Saiyuki Battle Zone
by YuGiOh-Lover25
Summary: the Sanzo party comes across three mysterious girls who entice them and bring mystery and mayhem to their lives. can the Sanzo Party deal with all their secrets and hidden mysteries? or will it destroy them before they know what hit them?
1. mysterious girls

Saiyuki Battle zone

Chapter 1

Mysterious Girls

As the sun began to set, an iron jeep with four weary travellers drove down a dusty road. As the sun gradually disappeared over the horizon, the second eldest of the travellers with the monocle pulled the jeep into a small country town to rest up for the night. The eldest, a blonde priest with an ancient scripture around his shoulders, pulled out one of his cigarettes and lit it. The young boy at the back yawned loudly, stretching his arms and then rubbed his eyes sleepily. The red haired man with two scars on his face folded his arms behind his head as he helped the driver look for an inn.

"Hey guys... I'm hungry!" stated the young boy and the priest grit his teeth in annoyance. That was the last thing he wanted to hear at that moment, and the announcement from the boy wasn't news to his ears. He was very tempted to reach into his pocket and pull out his silver banishing gun, but used his little remaining patience to refrain from doing so.

"Like that's something new..." muttered the red head and the young boy frowned at him in annoyance. The driver chuckled slightly as he prepared himself for an argument to arise in the back, but no foul words were exchanged. The priest blinked at the two in the back, surprised just as much as the driver.

"What's the matter Goku? Normally you're not **that **hungry that you don't want to pick a fight with Gojyo" asked the priest and Goku folded his arms around his stomach to display how hungry he was.

"Well, that's something new, isn't it Sanzo?" asked the driver and Sanzo smirked to himself as he turned around to look at the front again.

"Guess the monkey has tricks up his sleeve after all, hey Hakkai?" asked Sanzo and Hakkai nodded, chuckling slightly.

"Forget about the monkey having tricks or not, we gotta find us an inn before it gets too dark! I don't wanna sleep out on the ground again tonight!" exclaimed Gojyo and Sanzo nodded in agreement. They continued driving through the town and it wasn't long before a sign reading 'inn' appeared in the distance.

"I believe that's one right there. I hope they have vacancies" stated Hakkai as they drove closer to the inn. When they reached the entrance of the inn they stopped and all exited the jeep, allowing it to transform in a brilliant white glow into a small white dragon that flew and landed on Hakkai's shoulder. They walked into the inn and made their way to the register. A lady with long brown hair walked to the counter with a sorrowful expression on her face. Hakkai blinked a few times with a confused expression on his face.

"I'm sorry; we no longer have any more rooms. You'll have to find accommodation elsewhere" she said and then walked back into a room along the corridor.

"Aw, then no food?" asked Goku as he held his stomach in his hands again. Laughter suddenly emitted behind the four men as they turned to see a young lady with long pink hair and blue eyes giggling hysterically. She wore a lavender kimono and a gold necklace with a blue gem inside.

The men stared at her for a few minutes, wondering why she was laughing at them. She noticed this and stopped laughing, looking at the men, smiling.

"Oh, sorry about that. Are you guys looking for a place to stay? All the inns are full here, but there's plenty of room at my place" she said and the men looked at each other questionably.

"Is there food?" asked Goku and the lady chuckled slightly at the boy's question. She nodded and that seemed to make Goku trust her instantly. He began tugging at Sanzo's sleeve of his robe, going on about wanting to go to her place for the night.

"I think it may be our only choice Sanzo. I say we go" stated Hakkai and Sanzo looked at him. Gojyo was grinning madly at the thought of staying at her place. Sanzo saw this and pulled out his white paper fan and struck Gojyo on the head with it. Gojyo held his head in pain.

"What was that for you stinking monk?" he yelled and Sanzo glared at him in annoyance. The girl looked at them blankly, blinking a few times in confusion. Hakkai and Goku walked to the girl and walked with her outside as Gojyo and Sanzo followed behind while Gojyo kept yelling insults at Sanzo.

"Are they always like that?" asked the lady and Hakkai chuckled and nodded. Goku jumped into the jeep again and Hakkai sat in the driver's seat.

"Exactly how far away is your place? If it's a fair distance we may need you to give us directions there and we'll give you a lift there" asked Hakkai and the girl smiled, pointing over the hill that was a long distance from the village.

"I live a long way away, but that's just something that has to happen for me, safety wise I mean" she answered and Hakkai looked at her in confusion. What could she have meant by that? The lady noticed this and smiled at Hakkai.

"You'll see when we get to my place. It's not really me that needs the protection, but rather those I live with" she answered and Hakkai nodded, pointing to the spare seat in between Gojyo and Goku. She immediately stepped into the jeep and sat between the two boys and gave Hakkai directions to the house as the jeep began to drive in that direction.

Once they arrived after about a half hour drive they stopped outside a fairly nice, yet rather large cottage. The lady jumped out of the jeep and rushed to the door, opening it and yelling inside the house. The gang jumped out of the jeep and walked closer to the house as Hakeryuu transformed and landed on Hakkai's shoulder. The lady turned around to smile at the gang as two young girls walked out of the house. One was rather quiet and serious; the second was giggly, loud and talked as much as Goku. The quiet one had short red hair and red eyes, and she wore a white and purple kimono. The loud one had blue hair and purple eyes and wore lots of jewellery and a light blue kimono.

"Hisako, Ruka, say hello to our guests. They'll be staying with us for the night, so please make them feel welcome, alright?" asked the lady and the two girls nodded to her.

"Alright mummy, but who are our guests?" asked the blue haired one and the gang gasped a little. She didn't look any older than Sanzo, so how could this young girl be her daughter? The lady noticed this and looked at them, laughing.

"They're not really my children. They're adopted I guess you could say. They had nowhere to go, so I took them in seen as I was on my own anyway. But I have to ask, what're your names anyway?" she said and the gang looked at each other.

"I'm Genjo Sanzo, these are my followers, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo and Son Goku" answered Sanzo and the lady gasped, covering her mouth with her hand in shock.

"You mean you're the Sanzo Party? I had a feeling you were a Sanzo priest, but not **that **Sanzo priest! Please forgive our rudeness, I'm Lily Chrysanthemum. These are my adopted daughters, Ruka and Hisako. They don't remember what the rest of their names are for some reason, so it's just Ruka and Hisako. So please, come in and make yourselves at home!" said Chrysanthemum and she turned, walking inside the house and issued for the gang to follow her.

A few hours later the party was sitting at the table in the main room as Ruka and Hisako were sitting on the floor nearby, playing with some toys.

"So, can we trust them?" asked Sanzo and Gojyo turned to look at him.

"Why not? Not every nice person who offers us stay is evil. Maybe she's just generous at heart" stated Gojyo and Sanzo cursed him under his breath.

"Gojyo, that young girl, Ruka, she's a half demon, isn't she?" asked Hakkai and Gojyo looked at Hakkai in shock. His shock wore off as he turned to look at Ruka again. She was laughing at Hisako who was pulling a funny face.

"Yeah, I was wondering how long it would take you guys to notice" answered Gojyo as he smiled to himself while he continued to watch Ruka. She seemed slightly shy and a little timid, but she looked very happy for a half demon.

"And what about the other girl, Hisako? She's not human" asked Sanzo and Goku looked at him in question.

"Not human? You mean she's demon?" asked Goku and Sanzo nodded at him. Goku blinked in astonishment for a second, and then looked at Hisako as she continued to laugh and play with her toys.

"Well, despite the fact that she's a demon, she seems to have a great sense of self and is able to maintain her sanity quite well" stated Hakkai and Goku nodded in agreement.

"Besides, she's just a child, she wouldn't be able to do much to us if she went berserk anyway!" exclaimed Goku and then Sanzo's attention went to Chrysanthemum, who was chopping away in the kitchen, preparing their meal.

"All that aside, what do you make of our host?" asked Sanzo and Hakkai looked at her, watching her with a curious expression.

"I wonder if that necklace is a power limiter? It holds great power in it, and she's not entirely human from what I can sense. But she doesn't look like a half demon, and there's a trace of human in her so she can't be entirely demon. Strange, I've never met someone like her before" stated Hakkai, thinking aloud. Goku looked at him with a blank expression.

"I've heard a legend about a half demon that didn't look like one and had to wear a power limiter, despite the human blood that ran in their veins. They're a mixture of demon and priestess or priest. The forbidden taboo child, the ultimate sin. I think she's one of them, but they're very rare" answered Sanzo and then Chrysanthemum turned to everyone with a huge serving plate of food for them. She placed it on the table and then smiled as they grabbed a smaller plate each and began to eat.

"Excuse my asking Chrysanthemum, but are you a half demon between a demon and priest or priestess?" asked Goku and Sanzo hit him on the head with his fan. Chrysanthemum gasped a little, and then looked at the ground sadly.

"Yes, you see, my mother was a priestess and my father was a demon. I had two twin brothers as well, but one day the village we were in captured us all and got ready to kill us. My mother used her powers to give me a chance to escape with my brothers, but along the way to our escape they were captured as well and I managed to make it our safely. I then watched in the shadows as they were all burnt to the stake" she answered as a tear fell down her cheek and hit the floor. Sanzo looked up, seeing the tear and nearly choked on his food.

Crying could then be heard from the next room as Hisako walked up to Chrysanthemum, crying her eyes out. Chrysanthemum looked down at her, asking her what was wrong.

"Bunny's missing!" answered Hisako, still sulking and sobbing. Chrysanthemum's head shot straight up as she looked around for Bunny. She then opened the door to the outside and rushed outside, calling out for Bunny. Hisako sat at the table, wiping her tears and letting out sobs every now and then. Hakkai stood and walked over to her, patting her shoulder. She looked up at him with the most innocent look he'd ever seen.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll find Bunny" reassured Hakkai and Hisako nodded, smiling with teary eyes. Hakkai smiled slightly, wondering what on earth 'Bunny' was. Sanzo pulled his glasses out of a pocket in his robes and put them on as he started reading the newspaper. Gojyo stood and walked to Ruka, who had continued to play, and sat down, playing with her and talking to her. Goku kept eating like he hadn't eaten in years.

Meanwhile Chrysanthemum looked nearly everywhere outside, and then looked up at the sky as she heard a loud crack of thunder and saw a flash of lightning strike nearby. She didn't even flinch but heard a little squeaky noise as it started pouring with rain. Chrysanthemum's hair became saturated and so did her clothes. She rushed to the source of the sound and bent down under the fallen metal that lay on the ground. She kept reaching underneath, despite what may be under it and how muddy she got, and fished out a little white bundle of fur. She then turned and rushed back into the house and walked to Hisako, who had tried her tears and was telling Hakkai how he was unusually nice for an outsider. Chrysanthemum cleared her throat and everyone in the house turned to look at her. Hisako gasped in joy and stood.

"Bunny! You found him mummy!" she exclaimed in joy as she rushed to Chrysanthemum. She handed Hisako the little white bundle and Hisako hugged it with love.

"Be more careful with him Hisako. He was hiding from the storm, try not to lose him again, okay?" asked Chrysanthemum and Hisako looked up at her, nodding. The little bundle squeaked again and uncurled itself to reveal a little white, fluffy monkey. Goku rushed over to Hisako and patted its head.

"Aw, what a cute little monkey! But I have to ask, why'd you call it Bunny?" Goku asked and Hisako giggled, smiling while hugging Bunny.

"Because he's white like a bunny, and soft like a bunny!" answered Hisako and Goku chuckled slightly. Sanzo looked at Chrysanthemum and the state she was in. No one had mentioned she looked cold and wet and muddy, and she looked like she didn't care either. Ruka and Gojyo then walked back into the kitchen and Gojyo was ruffling Ruka's hair and she was giggling. Suddenly another flash of lightning struck nearby the back door, which was just glass, meaning the entire room was lit in a bright white glow for a second. Hisako and Ruka shrieked in fright while Chrysanthemum didn't even flinch. The girls ran to Chrysanthemum, griping the lower part of her kimono and burying their faces in the soft fabric as fear overwhelmed them. Chrysanthemum put a hand on each of their heads, patting them slightly.

Chrysanthemum looked at the Sanzo Party apologetically as she led the girls to their rooms and tucked them into bed. She then walked back into the kitchen and showed them their rooms. Sanzo lay on his bed as he contemplated the events of the day. He was in a house with a strange, yet very attracting young lady who had two adopted daughters that looked about half her age, and was sleeping in a bed opposite her room and they knew almost nothing of her except that she was a product of the ultimate sin. He smiled to himself thinking it was just an ordinary day for them, and then he let his conscious fade for the night.

Hakkai was lying on his bed, sniffing the incense he'd lit, and drinking a glass of water he'd left on the table. He then put the glass on his table and then drifted off to sleep. Goku was already in bed, fast asleep, snoring his head off. Gojyo was lying on his bed, thinking about Ruka and how she must have been feeling, being a half demon herself. Hisako and Ruka were fast asleep, breathing quietly.

Chrysanthemum stood in her room, watching the lightning and the rain, wide awake. Her curtains were drawn back so every flash of lightning made the room go a brilliant white. This storm reminded her of the one her mother had summoned in order to help her children escape, however only one managed to do so, and she'd been on the run ever since. She then heard a little squeak and turned to see Bunny, climbing up her kimono and onto her shoulder. The little white monkey squeaked and smiled at her, she smiled back at him, patting his head, and then continued to watch the storm with a very serious expression on her face.

Something was on its way to the house, and it was something dark, very dark. She sensed demonic aura, and it was after one thing. Genjo Sanzo, and there was no way she was going to let that happen! Not without a fight!


	2. dead fighting

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 2

Dead Fighting

As the sun began to rise the next morning, Hakkai stepped into the kitchen just as the morning light

began to shine in the room. He looked around, but saw no one in the room, then walked into the

main room where Hisako and Ruka had been playing, but didn't see the pink haired lady he was

hoping to see. As he made his way back into the kitchen, he noticed a small latter resting on the

table. He picked it up and read it inside his head.

_Dear Sanzo Party,_

_I'll be out for a bit, so in the meantime, I'd hate to ask such a big favour of_

_you all, but would you be able to take care of Hisako and Ruka for me for a bit. And Hakkai,_

_could you please cook breakfast everyone? All the ingredients we have are in the cupboards_

_in the kitchen and pantry which is just to the left of the kitchen. Again, I'm so sorry to ask_

_such a huge favour of you all. If Hisako or Ruka ask where I am, please tell them I've gone for_

_a morning walk and probably won't be back till noon._

_Thank you and again, I'm sorry_

_Lily Chrysanthemum_

After Hakkai finished reading the letter he placed it back on the table, and then looked through the

cupboards and pantry for ingredients to use for breakfast. Just as he finished getting breakfast ready

Goku, Hisako and Ruka walked into the kitchen, all three of them exclaiming how hungry they were.

As soon as he finished putting the food on the table, all three children grabbed a plate of food and

ate to their hearts content. Soon Gojyo and Sanzo walked into the kitchen and joined them as well.

Hakkai sat down at the table and reread the letter as he contemplated the words of the letter.

"Hakkai? Where's mummy?" asked Hisako, and Hakkai stopped reading the letter and looked at her.

He wasn't sure if he should tell them, but he decided to seen as the letter had said to.

"She wrote this letter saying she was going for a morning walk and won't be back till noon. And she's

asked us to look after the two of you till she gets back" answered Hakkai and Hisako and Ruka

looked at each other with worried expressions.

"Is something wrong? Does the fast that she's gone for a walk bother you two?" asked Sanzo and

Ruka looked down at the table, a plate of food in front of her.

"Usually when mummy says that she's going for a walk, she comes back in a mess. Last time she

came back really wounded and was in bed for weeks" answered Hisako, and Ruka nodded in

agreement. The boys all gasped in shock at what they heard. They all stood up and rushed to the

door, the girls looked up at them with curious expressions.

"If we wanna find her, we have no clue on how to do that. Last time I checked we don't have a blood

hound!" stated Gojyo and then Hakeryuu flew and landed on Hakkai's shoulder, chirping.

"Perhaps Hakeryuu will be able to help us?" asked Hakkai but just as Hakeryuu was about to chirp a

reply, a high pitched squeak was heard. The girls looked at each other as a small gasp escaped them.

They then rushed out past the men and to the little white monkey that rushed right to Hisako's

kimono, and gripped the material, pulling it while pointing in the opposite direction.

"Bunny, can you lead us to mummy?" asked Ruka and Bunny nodded continuously. The girls looked

at each other, and then ran after Bunny into the forest. The men stood there, stunned a little, then

realised the children were running away. They rushed after the girl, calling to them to slow down

and wait for them.

Meanwhile Chrysanthemum was leaning against a tree, puffing and bleeding from cuts to several

places on her body. She had a few cuts on her face, and multiple gashes and cuts over her so her

kimono had blood stains over it. She was gripping her shoulder and her hair was a mess as it'd been

undone from its hair style. She heard deep chuckles come from in front of her and she glared up at

the men who stood in front of her. There must've been at least 20, and they were all demons.

"Come on baby, we don't wanna have to hurt you any more than what we have to, just stop resisting

and tell us where Genjo Sanzo is" stated one of the demons. Chrysanthemum spat on the ground

near the demon's foot. He growled and then slapped her across the face, knocking her head back

into the tree again. She slumped down in a heap on the floor, her back resting against the tree. Just

as the demon was about to strike down and end her life a bullet shot out from the bushes making

the demon jump back, holding his hand in pain. Every demon, including Chrysanthemum, looked at

the bushes the direction the bullet had shot from. A few seconds later Genjo Sanzo, Cho Hakkai, Son

Goku, Sha Gojyo, Ruka and Hisako came out from the bushes. Every one of the Sanzo Party had their

weapons ready, and they started fighting the demons. Hisako and Ruka rushed to Chrysanthemum,

asking multiple questions at once.

Sanzo fired multiple bullets and hit a total of 6 demons before he cocked his gun to reload. Goku had

brought out his weapon, and was swinging it about, hitting multiple demons that intended to sneak

up behind him. Gojyo had his weapon out too and was releasing the chain allowing the weapon to

extend and hit his enemies in front. It was a slow technique but it was very effective. Hakkai had

produced a large amount of chi in his hands, and then fired it at some demons, burning them into

ashes.

Chrysanthemum stood slowly, still holding her shoulder. Ruka was glaring at some demons that

intended to sneak up on them while the gang was busy fighting. Hisako was glaring at the other

demons on the other side. Chrysanthemum growled under her breath and then extended her hands,

allowing a light to appear before it was replaced with a bow and arrow. She got the bow and arrow

ready, and then aimed at one of the demons that was approaching Hakkai from behind. She fired

and hit the demon in the back.

He screamed in pain as a hissing and gurgling sound was made and smoke could be seen emitting

from the demon. Every one that was fighting had stopped and was watching that one demon scream

as he was slowly burned throughout his entire body by that one single arrow. Sanzo's eyes were as

wide as Goku had ever seen them get.

"I don't believe it! She's got priestess powers! That was a sacred arrow!" exclaimed Sanzo as he

watched the last of the demon turn into ash and blow away in the wind. Everyone then turned to

look at Chrysanthemum who had produced her second arrow and was aiming at the next demon on

her list. Ruka had reached into her pockets and pulled out little daggers. She threw them at the

demons in front of her, then pulled the string so they came flying right back into her hands. Hisako

held her hand out as a large amount of chi appeared; she then fired it at the demons and exploded

when it came into contact with them. Chrysanthemum gasped when the explosion happened and

instantly reached for Hisako and Ruka, shielding them from harm like any mother would.

When the smoke cleared, every demon was lying dead on the floor, and Sanzo and the others stood

there like they'd seen the end of the world. Chrysanthemum stood, and then walked to the boys

while holding her shoulder.

"Mind explaining what that was all about?" asked Gojyo and Chrysanthemum looked at him.

"I thought those were the demons that come by and attack us every now and then, but they were

really after Sanzo this time. I thought if I could hold them off, you guys would go running in the

opposite direction when the girls told you what my version of a 'morning walk' is" answered

Chrysanthemum.

"Yeah, well we didn't. There's no way we'd leave a girl to fight for us by herself. We're not that kind

of men!" stated Goku and Chrysanthemum smiled down at him.

"Mummy? Are you alright?" asked Hisako as she held the bottom of Chrysanthemum's kimono. She

looked down at her, smiling.

"Hisako, Ruka, answer me this. Has there ever been a time when mummy wasn't okay?" asked

Chrysanthemum. The girls looked at each other with confused expressions.

"Never, but we don't want you to be in pain" answered Ruka and Chrysanthemum bent down,

smiling at the girls.

"Mummy's just fine, in fact... she's... never felt... better..." stated Chrysanthemum as she then slowly

fell to the ground in a heap. Ruka and Hisako gasped in shock as Sanzo and Hakkai rushed to her.

"How is she Hakkai?" asked Sanzo as he held Chrysanthemum's head up for Hakkai to inspect her

injuries.

"She seems to be alright. Just she passed out from exhaustion and blood loss. Let's take her back to

the house so she can be treated properly" answered Hakkai as Sanzo, who we all know is **so well**

**known for his **_**kind **_**actions**, lifted Chrysanthemum up and turned to walk back to the house. The

boys stood there in shock, blinking at each other in confusion. Sanzo cursed something under his

breath, which caused the boys to look very terrified as they stood, taking the girls back with them to

the house.

As Hakkai finally finished bandaging Chrysanthemum's wounds he stepped outside the room, closing

the door and went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Gojyo, Goku, Ruka and Hisako all sat in the

kitchen, talking. Sanzo had gone into Chrysanthemum's room to talk to her about a very serious

matter. Hakeryuu had flown onto the top of Ruka's head and decided it would make a nice bed,

because he curled himself up and fell asleep. This caused Gojyo and Hisako and Goku to crack up

laughing. Ruka blushed slightly, and then joined in the laughter. Hakkai turned and saw Hakeryuu

and chuckled slightly to himself as well.

"Hakeryuu, I wouldn't trust that bed, it moves too much!" warned Gojyo and Hakeryuu chirped

some sort of insult at Gojyo in his sleep. Bunny jumped onto Hisako's shoulder, then laid his head

near her neck, falling asleep like a monkey does when it's being cared for by its mother. Hisako

patted his head and he squeaked quietly.

Meanwhile in Chrysanthemum's room Sanzo was sitting by the chair, reading one of the books from

the large bookcase. Chrysanthemum slowly opened her eyes and turned to see Sanzo sitting there.

She also noted that he wasn't smoking one of his cigarettes like he usually was, and his gun was

nowhere to be seen. Sanzo noticed her analysing him and smirked to himself at the fact that she was

cautious after all. Chrysanthemum blinked a few times, and then noticed him looking back at her.

She then brought her elbows up as she attempted to sit up. Sanzo noticed and put the book down,

telling her to stay put.

"Why are you in my room Sanzo?" she asked him, and he blinked a few times. That was a good

question, he thought to himself.

"Your bow and arrows, they're spiritual, aren't they?" he asked her, and she nodded, looking down

at her hands that were in her lap.

"Like I said before, my mother was a priestess and my father was a demon. I have to wear this power

limiter now because of the fog. It's my only way of keeping the demonic aura in me in check. If it's

removed, I go berserk and kill anything in my path that moves. Someone also told me I don't act like

normal demons when they go berserk either. You know how even the berserk demons can talk?"

asked Chrysanthemum and Sanzo nodded.

"Apparently all I do is make this horrible shrieking noise that is torture to the ears from what I've

heard" she finished and Sanzo noted how much it sounded like Goku when his power limiter came

off. But she wasn't made from the earth itself; she was a forbidden half demon.

Suddenly singing could be heard from kitchen, and Sanzo and Chrysanthemum stepped into the

room to see Hisako singing. Chrysanthemum was smiling at her; while Sanzo was wondering what

the heck she was on.

"She sings?" asked Sanzo, and Chrysanthemum giggled slightly.

"She's had a huge obsession with singing since she started living with us, probably because I make

my living as a singer here in this village" answered Chrysanthemum. Sanzo looked at her in total

disbelief. She was a singer? Why hadn't he heard of her then? Chrysanthemum smiled at him, but

deep underneath she was wishing he'd never discover her **full **job. It wasn't the nicest job, but it was only one she could get that was pay for the bills and food, etc.

_Tobikau signal sore zore no kyou wo nosete_

_(the signals that fly about ride on each of their todays)_

_Onaji shuuhasuu kasane ai kimi to hanasu_

_(Overlapping while I talk to you on the same frequency)_

_Mayoi tamerai wo furikiri_

_(shake off your hesitation and bewilderment)_

_Soko ni aru hazu no michi wo ikou!_

_(Because the path over there is the one we'll take!)_

_Miageru sora wa kokoro ni tsumoru negai no iro_

_(The sky I look up at is made up of the wishes piled up in my heart)_

_Egaku yume wo utsushi dasu_

_(Beginning to project the dream I envisioned)_

_Kanarazu itsuka kono te ni fureru asu e no chizu_

_(I will surely one day, with this hand, tough the map leading towards tomorrow!)_

_Tsuyoku takaku todokumade kagayaite_

_(Shining strongly, highly, until I reach it!)_

Hisako then burst into hysterical giggles as Goku and Ruka tackled her to the ground. They all started

laughing as Gojyo and Hakkai, who were sitting on the couch, cracked up laughing too.

(For those of you who were wondering where that song was from, it's the Mega man Star force

Opening, and I'm using it for the opening of this series, Saiyuki- Battle Zone)


	3. unexpected secrets

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 3

Unexpected Secrets

The next morning, Hakkai woke and walked into the kitchen to find Hisako and Ruka already awake eating breakfast, and Chrysanthemum nowhere to be seen again. He looked at the girls curiously. They noticed and smiled at him.

"Mummy said she had to go work today. She normally doesn't get back till midnight or so" answered Ruka and Hakkai's eyes widened majorly.

"She works from early in the morning till midnight? That's a bit rough, isn't it? Leaving you girls here by yourselves all day" asked Hakkai but Hisako shook her head.

"Mummy usually doesn't work this much, she's just had a few days off lately and needs to catch up so she can have enough money for us" said Hisako and Hakkai smiled, understanding what she meant.

"And what does she do for a living?" asked Gojyo as he walked into the room and helped himself to a little of Ruka's breakfast, receiving a pout from Ruka. Gojyo smirked and chuckled a little at her expression.

"Mummy's a singer. She works at the club in town, but she's never let us come along with her, and she doesn't give us details on it either..." answered Ruka just as Sanzo and Goku walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"I think I'd like to see where she works. Do you know the name of the place she works?" asked Sanzo, and the girls looked at each other curiously.

"It's the Gatry Club in the centre of town. There's a big sign on top of it with some high heels on it, you won't miss it" answered Hisako and Gojyo nearly choked on the food in his mouth. He sat there coughing for a few minutes as the gang looked at him, wondering what had caused him to choke. Once Gojyo had recovered he took a deep breath.

"Your mother works at a stripper club?" exclaimed Gojyo and this caused the rest of the gang to freeze for a second. Suddenly Gojyo, Goku and Sanzo stood, rushing to door and walking to the jeep. Hakkai stood there with the children, and watched them leave.

"I take it I'll be watching them?" Hakkai asked to no one in particular seen as they were already driving off into the distance.

As the jeep pulled into town, they found the building that the children had described. As they walked inside they saw lots of men, mostly wearing suits, and women wearing skimpy clothes. Gojyo walked to Goku and covered his eyes.

"Hey Kappa! What's that for?" exclaimed Goku and Gojyo smirked.

"This is nothing for a child's eye to see. I'm doing you a favour!" answered Gojyo and as he was about to continue he found himself distracted by the familiar voice that filled the room. Sanzo and Gojyo looked at the stage to see a pink haired lady wearing a short kimono holding a microphone and singing. Goku could hear her, but because of Gojyo's hands he couldn't see.

"Is that Chrysanthemum?" asked Goku.

"Yeah, trust me Goku, Gojyo's doing you a favour at the moment..." answered Sanzo.

_Mum mum mum mah  
Mum mum mum mah_

I wanna hold em' like they do in Texas please  
Fold em' let em' hit me raise it baby stay with me (I love it)  
Luck and intuition play the cards with Spades to start  
And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart

Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh  
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh,  
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got

_[Chorus:]__  
Can't read my,  
Can't read my  
No he can't read my poker face  
(she's got to love nobody)  
Can't read my  
Can't read my  
No he can't read my poker face  
(she's got to love nobody)_

P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face  
(Mum mum mum mah)  
P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face  
(Mum mum mum mah)

I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be  
A little gambling is fun when you're with me I love it)  
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun  
And baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh  
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh,  
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got

_[Chorus]___

P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face  
(Mum mum mum mah)  
P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face  
(Mum mum mum mah)

I won't tell you that I love you  
Kiss or hug you  
Cause I'm bluffin' with my muffin  
I'm not lying I'm just stunnin' with my love-glue-gunning  
Just like a chick in the casino  
Take your bank before I pay you out  
I promise this, promise this  
Check this hand cause I'm marvellous

_[Chorus x3]___

_[x3]__  
P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face  
(Mum mum mum mah)  
P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face  
(Mum mum mum mah)_

Once the song was over, Chrysanthemum stepped off stage and began to walk to the back of the club. Once she'd pushed her way out of the crowd of drunken men, she walked to the bar at the back and ordered a glass of water to refresh her throat.

"Well, i wouldn't have thought you'd work here of all places" said a familiar voice and Chrysanthemum choked on her water. After a few coughs she regained her composure and turned to see Gojyo, Sanzo and Goku, looking at her with expectant looks. Chrysanthemum looked at them suspiciously.

"I just have one thing to ask you, are you guys paid clients, or did you just come here to see where i work?" she asked them and Sanzo looked at Gojyo, expecting him to answer that question.

"We just came here to check up on you. You shouldn't be working after the beating you took yesterday" answered Gojyo and Chrysanthemum sighed, taking another sip of water. Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku took seats next to her, ordering their own drinks.

"So you guys just came here cause you were worried about me? That's sweet and all, but i need this job, it's the only one that gives me enough pay to support the three of us" stated Chrysanthemum and Sanzo gave her a curious look.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with this job, you should work where ever you want" said Goku and Chrysanthemum looked at him.

"It's not that. I don't like working here, but it's the only one i can get, seen as I'm supporting three people instead of one" answered Chrysanthemum and Gojyo sighed. Suddenly a hand reached out and wrapped itself around Chrysanthemum's shoulders. A middle aged man, drunk beyond belief, smirked down at Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum froze on the spot, not knowing what to do.

"Hey baby, that was quite a performance there. Bet i know who it was about. You and me, in the hired bed, huh?" asked the man and Chrysanthemum stuttered a little. While she worked in the stripper club, she didn't perform anything besides singing at the club.

"I'm sorry sir; the only thing i give at this club is live performances. That stuff you're asking for is out of my league, ask those girls over there, that's their job" answered Chrysanthemum as she got the man's arm off of her and stood, turning to walk away.

The man then grabbed her wrist and made her turn around to look at him. Sanzo, Goku and Gojyo glared at the man, hatred clear in their eyes.

"Listen here bitch! I paid good money to get served in this club, and i chose who sleeps with me here in this club, seen as I'm a VIP customer! Now you'll come to the bedroom either way, whether by choice or by force!" yelled the man and Chrysanthemum glared at him. She smacked his hand away from her and spat on his shoes.

"Like i said before, that's **their **job, giving performances in the bedroom is not my job! I'm a singer, that's all i am!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum and the man growled, then slapped her over the face, making her fall into a small crowd of girls that also worked in the club. The girls screamed and scattered away from Chrysanthemum like she was a cockroach.

Sanzo couldn't take this guys behaviour anymore. He stood and walked to the man, grabbing his shoulder, making him turn to look at him. Then Sanzo did something that no one saw coming, he socked him one right in the face! Chrysanthemum sat there, gasping for a few minutes before she realised what had happened. The man sat on the ground, rubbing his cheek for a few minutes.

Sanzo then walked to Chrysanthemum, offering her a hand up. She looked at him curiously and he winked at her in reply. She smiled at him and accepted his offer, he then pulled her up and pulled her into his grip as he wrapped her right arm around her and used his left to point at the man.

"Listen here buddy, this is **my **girl, you got that? Lay a finger on her again and I'll kill you, you got that?" threatened Sanzo and the man, and Gojyo and Goku stared at him in shock. Chrysanthemum turned her head to look at Gojyo and Goku, and winked at them. They seemed to calm down somewhat.

"What was that bastard? That's it! You're dead!" exclaimed the man as he went to punch Sanzo again. However Sanzo reached into his pocket and pulled out his silver banishing gun, pointing it at the man.

"Didn't you hear me you bastard? I said I'd kill you!" threatened Sanzo and the man backed away, terrified now. Sanzo then turned and walked to the leave the bar, dragging Chrysanthemum with him seen as he still had his arm wrapped around her.

Once they were outside the bar Gojyo stood in front of Sanzo asking, "Okay, what was that all about? She's **your **girl?" Sanzo growled at him.

"Haven't you ever heard of something called acting you moron?" asked Sanzo and Gojyo stood there in shock for a few minutes. Goku was grinning from ear to ear.

"Come on, we're heading back to the house" said Sanzo, and Chrysanthemum, Gojyo and Goku climbed into the jeep as well as they headed back to the house.

Meanwhile, Hakkai had been playing with Hisako and Ruka. Ruka and Hisako wanted to play pretend, so they made Hakkai act like the bad guy while Hisako and Ruka were the two heroes that had come to save the day. Hakkai stood there, holding Bunny by the scruff of the neck with an evil look on his face.

"I have you now Dr Brain! You **will **build the ultimate weapon for me or your life will be forfeit!" exclaimed Hakkai as he imitated his most evil voice. Bunny froze and his hair stood on end, he was actually really terrified.

"Not so fast Gyumaoh! We've come to stop you!" exclaimed Ruka as she and Hisako jumped out from behind the couch and onto the scene. They made funny poses, trying to look heroic. Hakkai gasped and growled at them.

"No! It's my archenemies! Ruka the Great and Hisako the Powerful!" exclaimed Hakkai, trying desperately not to laugh. Hisako and Ruka grinned at each other, and then Hisako pointed at Hakkai.

"Now, release Dr Brain! Or your life will rest in our hands!" commanded Hisako and Hakkai stepped back, acting terrified. He let go of Bunny and he scampered away, squeaking loudly. Ruka and Hisako then rushed at Hakkai, pretending to fight him.

Ruka then tripped Hakkai and he fell flat on his back. Hisako and Ruka put one of their feet on Hakkai's chest, throwing their fists into the air, declaring victory. Hakkai was grinning, despite having his eyes closed pretending to be knocked unconscious. Bunny jumped onto the couch, bouncing up and down, squeaking happily. Ruka walked to Bunny, letting him jump onto her and then walked back to Hakkai. Bunny then blew a raspberry at Hakkai, mocking him. Hakkai chuckled and sat up slightly.

"You may have won this time Ruka the Great and Hisako the Powerful, but **I**, Gyumaoh, will be back and i shall have my revenge!" exclaimed Hakkai as she scrambled to his feet and ran off into the next room.

Suddenly laughter and clapping could be heard outside. Hakkai, Hisako and Ruka rushed to the window to see an army of demons outside, all sitting on their asses, laughing hysterically. When they recovered, they started to storm the house.

"Genjo Sanzo! Where are you Genjo Sanzo! We won't stop till we've destroyed this entire house!" called out one of the demons and Bunny squeaked, jumping onto Hakkai's shoulder. He grabbed each of the girls' wrists and rushed out the back door and into the forest, knowing it was futile to try and fight the demons, not with the two children unprotected and by himself.

When the jeep pulled in everyone gasped at the sight they saw. The house was gone; a pile of wood and bricks was all that was left. They all jumped out of the jeep and rushed to the pile.

"Hisako! Ruka!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum in shock and panic.

"Hakkai! Where are you?" called out Gojyo, worrying about his friend. Goku was in too much shock, and Sanzo wasn't going to waste his voice.

Rustles could be heard from the bushes nearby and they all turned to see Hisako, Ruka and Hakkai walk out. Chrysanthemum gasped in joy and ran to the girls, hugging them tightly.

"Mummy! Demons attacked again asking for Sanzo" stated Ruka, trying desperately to breath.

"Yeah, but before the demons attacked, Hakkai, Ruka, Bunny and I played pretend! We stopped the evil Gyumaoh from making Dr Brain create the ultimate weapon!" stated Hisako, loving the hug. Hakkai chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"The evil Gyumaoh? Dr Brain?" asked Goku and Hakkai smiled awkwardly.

"I was the evil Gyumaoh, Bunny was Dr Brain, Hisako was Hisako the Powerful and Ruka was Ruka the Great. I was trying to take over the world, hehe" answered Hakkai and Gojyo and Sanzo gave him weird looks.

"Aw! I missed out on a really good game then! Why'd i go with you guys, i didn't get to see anything anyway!" exclaimed Goku, stomping the ground.

"What're you talking about Monkey! You got to see Sanzo act! And he called Chrysanthemum **his **girl! I wouldn't have missed that for the world!" stated Gojyo and Hakkai gave Sanzo a curious look.

"I was only acting. She was being assaulted by some drunken VIP guy that wanted her to go into the bedroom with him" answered Sanzo and Hakkai smiled, understanding.

"But what do we do now?" asked Chrysanthemum and everyone turned to look at her.

"The house is ruined, demolished in fact, and we have no where to stay" stated Chrysanthemum, and Hisako and Ruka looked at the ground sadly.

"Sanzo? Can they come along with us? Their powers could come in handy to us! So what do you say?" asked Goku and Hakkai and Gojyo looked at him expectantly. Sanzo cringed felt sweat form on the back of his neck. It's true that their powers would come in handy, but Ruka and Hisako were just children, younger than Goku, meaning they'd be annoying.

"Oh alright. They can come along with us, that's if they want to" answered Sanzo as he looked at Chrysanthemum.

"Well, where are you guys going?" she asked him. He smiled at her slightly.

"We're heading to India to stop the revival experiments to revive Gyumaoh" he answered and Chrysanthemum smiled, nodding at him. The jeep then glowed a bright white colour, and when the light faded, the jeep had become even longer, allowing more people to fit inside the jeep.

Sanzo and Hakkai jumped in the front, Chrysanthemum, Hisako and Ruka jumped in the middle row, which was a bit of a tight fit, and Gojyo and Goku were in the back. Then Hakkai put his foot on the accelerator, driving off into the distance with their new teammates.


	4. wings of despair

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 4

Wings of Despair

As the now extended jeep drove through the thick and dense forest, Sanzo and Hakkai could hear the snores of Goku and Gojyo, and the quiet whispers of Ruka and Hisako sleeping. Chrysanthemum was wide awake, stroking the girls' heads every now and then, to make sure they had pleasant dreams. Sanzo turned to look at the mysterious lady; she had the clearest blue eyes, and pink hair that reminded him of a pink highlighter he used to use back in his office. Her skin was pale, about a pale rosy colour, but nowhere near tan.

She was dressed in a black dress that went to half way between her hips and her knees, was long sleeved, and had a gold cuff around the top of the dress, which revealed her collarbone, another at the wrist of each sleeve, and another at the bottom of the dress. She wore a redish jacket over the top, it's sleeves were long and baggy, and it stopped a little after the dress, still not reaching her knees. Around her waist was a red ribbon to hold the jacket together. She still wore her gold power limiter with the blue sapphire, and had black long socks that went to her knees, and light brown sandals, like his own. The other two girls wore equally weird outfits.

Hisako's bright blue hair reminded him of the sea, and her purple eyes reminded him of the lavender plants and violet plants that used to grow just outside his office. Her skin was a palish yellow/tan colour, and was fairly short, about Ruka's height, just a little taller. She wore a blue top that stopped at her elbows, and a light purple top over that, that went down long at the black, stopping at her knees, but the front stopped at her waist. She had a darker blue skirt that stopped at her knees, and had white socks with blue platform shoes. She wore a gold bracelet, a love heart hairclip and a black choker necklace with a pink stone hanging from it.

Ruka's red hair and eyes reminded him too much of the kappa water sprite's hair and eyes. Her skin was a few shades lighter than Gojyo's, but they looked so similar that if Sanzo didn't know any better, he'd think they were siblings. She wore a white, black and purple outfit, that was a bit difficult to explain, but it had long sleeves, puffy shorts, boots, stockings, and a little cape at the back that went to her knees.

After Sanzo had finished investigating the girls, Chrysanthemum looked up at him and smiled, taking him by surprise. He quickly turned around to face the front again without answering to avoid talking with her. He knew that if he tried to say something he'd just jumble up his words and make a fool of himself. He hated her for having that effect on him, she was just too mysterious, and his curiosity kept getting the better of him. Every time he told himself it was time to ditch the girls and keep going to India, his own self would talk him out of it before the rest of the gang did, and that infuriated him beyond belief, but he refused to let it show. He knew that if the gang knew and asked, and he tried to explain, he'd just make them confused as well as himself. It was something words couldn't explain.

"Hakkai? Don't you think it's time we stopped to get some sleep?" asked Chrysanthemum and Hakkai chuckled slightly. Sanzo lightly growled under his breath.

"if you wanna sleep go right on ahead!" hissed Sanzo and he looked out the corner of his eye to see Chrysanthemum was smiling sweetly at him, like she was filled with gratitude. This caught Sanzo completely off guard. His eyes widened in surprise slightly because he had expected to see her angry or pouting at him for hissing such a thing to her. She didn't seem to take anything as an insult! Just what was this girl's heart made of?

Hakkai noticed this and chuckled slightly to himself again. He saw Sanzo glare at him, but this made him laugh even more.

"we'll stop now and we'll all get some sleep, how does that sound, Chrysanthemum? Sanzo?" asked Hakkai and Chrysanthemum agreed.

"whatever!" snarled Sanzo and Hakkai chuckled again. Hakkai pulled the jeep to stop underneath a tree, then leaned back, resting his head as he fell asleep. Then it was just Sanzo and Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum was back to stroking the girls' heads, and smiling down at them like she was their guardian angel. Sanzo couldn't believe this girl, besides the younger girls, what else would be a weakness for her?

Sanzo turned back to look at her again, and grabbed a cigarette, lighting it before taking his first exhale. Chrysanthemum closed her eyes, still smiling down at the two girls. Sanzo rolled his eyes. Suddenly Chrysanthemum's eyes shot open as she turned to her left, glaring. Sanzo raised a brow thinking she'd finally lost it.

"What was that?" asked Chrysanthemum as she then looked at Sanzo, her frown still on her face.

"what was what?" asked Sanzo and Chrysanthemum looked back to the left, pointing at the top of a tree.

"i heard something really big fly over there, bigger than a bird" answered Chrysanthemum and Sanzo's eyes widened considerably. He suddenly opened his door and started running a little between the tree and another nearby one. Chrysanthemum jumped out as well and chased after him.

After running a few minutes, they stopped and caught their breath nearby an old oak tree. Sanzo had already brought out his hand gun, and Chrysanthemum looked down at it in his hand, wondering what they were running from.

"Sanzo? What is it?" she asked, and Sanzo looked at her, sliding down to sit against the tree. He was out of breath and clutching the gun in both hands, placing it against the side of his head.

"i'd say it's a bird demon, but it could be anything big with wings. All i know is that everything with wings usually falls for playing dead, so the others are safe, just we've gotta be careful. It knows we're alive" he answered and Chrysanthemum gasped, covering her mouth in shock. She turned to look at the direction they'd come from, like she was debating over staying or running back to the jeep.

"come on, we gotta hurry if we want to survive!" motioned Sanzo as he stood and offered his spare hand to her. She turned to look at him, then accepted his hand as he pulled her deeper into the forest. Swooping and flapping noises were heard as the creature flew after them. Sanzo could see the scared expression on Chrysanthemum's face, she was terrified. But it wasn't for herself, it was everyone else.

Meanwhile, in a place filled with majestic walls, pillars and flowers, a lady in a white outfit with long black hair in a pony tail, sat on a throne watching down at the pool filled with lilies. She was resting her cheek against her hand, and smirking.

"looks like Sanzo's found a buddy, and they've got fan service!" stated the Merciful Goddess as she cackled wildly to herself.

After running for another 5 minutes they stopped by a cave, leaning against it and falling to the ground to catch their breath.

"do you think we lost it?" she asked and he turned to look at her.

"i don't think so, it's still here, just waiting for us to move so it can strike" he answered and she gasped, wrapping her arms around her legs, looking like she was cold, but Sanzo could tell she was just terrified. He sighed then looked up at the roof of the cave, puffing a cloud of smoke from his new cigarette.

"either that or it's gonna strike us right here and now!" whispered Chrysanthemum making Sanzo's eyes widen and he looked at her in disbelief. He stood and walked closer to her, sitting down next to her. He placed one hand on her hand which was griping her knee tightly, and issued for her to relax her hand off of strangling her knee and into his hand. She looked up at him and became shocked to see a warm smile on his face. This took her by complete surprise, and she then started giggling uncontrollably. Sanzo raised a brow.

"i'm sorry, but seeing you smiling, is just too damn rare and funny! But it looks good, you should try smiling like that more often, but then again, if the others saw that smile they'd probably assume you were a fake" stated Chrysanthemum and Sanzo smirked a little.

A sudden cawing sound filled the cave and the two stood, looking around frantically. Everything went black as dark feathers appeared and chrysanthemum's screaming was heard. Sanzo called out for her but the screams had disappeared and Sanzo was also swallowed up in the feathers as well.

Meanwhile back in the forest, Hakkai bolted awake, startling Hisako and Ruka, who were already awake. He turned to look at the girls, who were hugging each other, looking very scared. Hakkai raised a brow.

"I just heard mummy. She was screaming!" answered Ruka and Hakkai gasped, quickly turning the jeep on and twirling it around and driving in the direction Ruka told him. Gojyo and Goku quickly were knocked awake as the jeep made a sudden halt while it was turning and looked around, wondering what was going on.

"Hey Hakkai? Where's that god forsaken monk? And what about the pink haired beauty?" asked Gojyo, as Hisako crawled to the front of the jeep, taking Sanzo's spot, and clinging onto Hakkai's arm while he was driving. Ruka crawled into the back and was curling up between Gojyo and Goku, looking very scared.

"Ruka? What's wrong?" asked Goku and Ruka looked up at him.

"Mummy was screaming, it came from over there!" answered Ruka as she pointed ahead of where they were going. Hakkai pushed his foot on the accelerator, pushing Hakeryuu to his limits, trying to get to them in time.

When they got there, all they saw was a cave opening, and a giant ball of feathers. Everyone quickly jumped out of the jeep and rushed to the ball of feathers, as Hakkai and Gojyo tried desperately to part them to find Sanzo and Chrysanthemum, but when they lifted the feathers out of the way they saw a horrifying face. Well, it wasn't really a face, it looked like a harpies' face, with the sharp teeth and a long beak. When it's bright gold eyes opened to look at them Hakkai gasped as they all backed away. The creature then screeched horribly as it lifted its wings and flapped a few times, trying to make itself look as big as possible.

"This is what mummy sounds like when she goes berserk! But this isn't her!" yelled Hisako as they all covered their ears and ducked, to make themselves look smaller. The creature continued to make itself look taller, and more feathers scattered into the air. Gojyo caught one of the feathers, looking down at it to see it was pure black, not the slightest hint of white on it. Goku was protecting Ruka, shielding her from the monster while she covered her ears from the noise. Hakkai was doing the same for Hisako.

"a pure black beast... just what **is **this thing?" exclaimed Gojyo as the bird continued to grow in size.

He just seemed to be floating, floating in a black nothingness. Sanzo looked around, not seeing anything but black, but not that that surprised him. He was used to being left in the dark about most things. Suddenly he felt himself falling. Colour rushed into his vision, and he felt himself gently land on the ground. He looked around, seeing an unfamiliar town. Suddenly a familiar voice made him dash around to look at the source.

"Hey! Wait for me guys!" exclaimed a young girl with bright pink hair and blue eyes as she chased two identical boys who also had pink hair and blue eyes. Sanzo's eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets, as he watched what appeared to be a scene of Chrysanthemum's childhood!

"you're just too slow!" answered one of the boys as he stuck his tongue out at her. She pouted at this as she watched the boys high five.

"this isn't fair! I'm the eldest! Wait for me!" she exclaimed and the boys laughed as they continued running from her.

"just try and catch us, slow poke!" they exclaimed and she pouted again. Suddenly the scenery changed as he was standing in the middle of a raging fire! He quickly ran out of the flames, then started patting at his robe before he realised he wasn't technically there. He saw 5 people, three younger and two older, and saw they were tied up in a tent. He rushed inside to see Chrysanthemum, her younger twin brothers, a lady who he assumed was her mother, and a demon which must've been her father. The mother had long black hair and dark brown eyes. She wore the traditional priestess clothes, or a white baggy shirt with red baggy pants, socks and sandals. The demon father had tan skin and mousy brown hair with blue eyes. His hair was spiky and short, making him look younger than what he actually was. He was dressed in a blue shirt and jeans with sandals. Sanzo noticed the children looking terrified and were crying.

"Mother?" asked a familiar voice and Sanzo turned around to see Chrysanthemum, the real one, standing by the entrance to the tent, looking inside at the scene. She walked to his side, looking at the family of her distant past. They continued watching the scene. The mother turned to her husband, getting him to cut her ropes off, then they worked on untying the children. Sanzo saw tears silently falling from Chrysanthemum's face.

The children then ran out of the tent and the scene changed again to the children being chased through the forest by tribe members with spears and axes. Chrysanthemum gasped and covered her eyes with her hands as she started sobbing. Sanzo, who was surprised greatly at the fact he didn't feel nothing at her crying, but felt a hand tugging at his heart as he watched the scene, his face stuck in a shocked expression.

The first of the children, the youngest one, slowed down a little and tripped, then got chopped in half by one of the giant axes carried by a tribe member. Chrysanthemum, the older one, screamed and buried her face in the sleeve of his arm as he continued watching in shock and horror.

The second one, the other twin, was running behind his sister, when a spear shot forward, about to hit Chrysanthemum, but he knocked her out of the way and it speared him through the chest, and pinning him to a tree. He slowly rolled his eyes up before passing on. The last one, Chrysanthemum, kept running up through the forest, and hid in a bush as the tribe members ran past.

The scene changed again to darkness in the forest. Chrysanthemum's head poked out of the bush, her face tear stained and her eyes red, as she watched the tribe dance around the fire and screaming could be heard of the mother and father as they were burnt to the stake. The real Chrysanthemum sobbed out loudly, still clutching the sleeve of his robe, and his face softened slightly. Chrysanthemum looked at the scene, then both of them gasped as a tribe member snuck up on the girl, and stabbed her through the back and out through the chest. Blood began to trickle down from her mouth, and the knife was then forced out as she fell to a heap on the ground. Suddenly black feathers appeared again, and they swooped over Chrysanthemum as the bird creature revealed human like feather covered hands and arms. They grabbed Chrysanthemum and the wings swung up, then the creature took off, taking Chrysanthemum with it. Sanzo called out to her, reaching up for her hand, but they missed by a centimetre. The creature flew through the forest, dragging a screaming Chrysanthemum with him.

Sanzo took off after it. He ran on, chasing the trail of feathers that fluttered about in the breeze, and got whacked continuously by tree branches. Eventually he got a clear area, but found absolutely nothing. That's just it, nothing. He continued walking forward, not sure if he was start falling, or if he was stay where he was. Nothing happened. So he kept walking, eventually finding some sort of cylinder container, about the size of three people. He pressed a hand against it, and saw through it that Chrysanthemum was inside. She was on her hands and knees, crying and sobbing in terror and fright.

"Chrysanthemum! There's no need to cry, i'm here now, you're safe!" exclaimed Sanzo and Chrysanthemum slowly looked up at him with tear filled eyes. She still kept crying, but stood up and placed her hand on his, except there was a layer of what appeared to be glass between them.

"Nothing's going to happen, we're safe now, i'll make sure nothing happens to you. I'm going to protect you, i promise" he said and Chrysanthemum just lowered her head, sobbing loudly.

Suddenly the bird creature appeared again behind Sanzo. He turned around to glare at it but gasped, seeing it looked more like a human woman this time. She was still covered in feathers, but she had the appearance of a human this time. She smirked evilly at him.

"i've been using the negative emotions you and the girl have been feeling to make myself stronger. The more she cries and the more sad and angry you feel, the stronger i shall become!" stated the lady, and Sanzo gasped, the growled at her.

"we're not going to be under your influence any more! Chrysanthemum! Look at me!" snapped Sanzo and Chrysanthemum the looked up at him again, noticing the lady and Sanzo. Sanzo placed his hand against the glass again.

"We're leaving! Come on!" issued Sanzo and Chrysanthemum put her hand on his. This time the glass seemed to morph, hand his hand went through the glass, griping her hand, and he pulled her of the capsule and towards him. Everything flashed white, then the scenery changed to the forest again.

Chrysanthemum and Sanzo looked to see the bird lady had gone back to her original form. Sanzo and Chrysanthemum growled, as Sanzo brought his gun from his pocket and Chrysanthemum made her bow and arrows appear. The two aimed, then fired. The purified arrow and the banishing bullet hit the bird monster at the same time, as it screeched loudly. Everything went a bright shade of white.

Meanwhile, Hakkai's arms were growing sore and tired, from keeping such a tight grip on Hisako. Hisako's head was starting to hurt. Ruka was growing increasingly worried about Chrysanthemum and Sanzo, and Goku was looking up at the bird creature, which had grown to about the size of a two story building. Gojyo was standing in front of Ruka and Goku protectively, and trying to figure out what it was.

Suddenly the creature began to writhe and squirm in pain and agony. It screeched again, almost worse than what it was before. Suddenly it exploded into a million feathers that fell over the area. A pile of feathers, about the size it was before, stood there in front of them again. This time a sneeze was heard inside, and Hakkai and Gojyo rushed to the pile, pushing the feathers away to reveal Chrysanthemum.

Hakkai helped her out of the pile and she pulled Sanzo out with her, their hands still locked. Once they were out of the pile, then bent down to put their hands on their knees, and started breathing heavily like they hadn't taken a breathe in years. Ruka and Hisako were smiling and laughing while Goku rubbed his nose while grinning. Chrysanthemum and Sanzo straightened themselves, then smiled at each other, not noticed their hands were still locked together.

Maura Tazanna


	5. shinkai no kodoku

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 5

Shinkai no kodoku

In the darkness, a lady stood there by one of the bird creatures that had attacked Sanzo and Chrysanthemum. She had long black hair that went down onto the ground and spread around on the floor, and wore a long dark blue dress. Her eyes were a solid black colour, and she had a black star on her forehead. She patted the creature gently, soothing it with her voice.

"my lady. I regret to inform you that the Night Stalker you sent failed to kill Chrysanthemum or Priest Sanzo" stated a woman standing in the darkness. The lady stopped patting the Night Stalker, and turned to face her.

"No matter, we have plenty of time before Gyokumen Koushou expects the Maiten scripture. Gyumaoh will just have to wait a little longer, i wanna have fun watching the Sanzo party squirm!" answered the lady and the woman hiding in the shadows smiled.

"Go Tameka! Go and have some fun with the Sanzo Party!" stated the lady in the dress. The mystery lady then bowed and walked out, passing by a demon with long red hair and tan skin. She bowed quickly to Lord Kougaiji, then quickly ran off to find herself a flying dragon.

Kougaiji couldn't believe what Gyokumen Koushou had just told him. Some else was being given the pleasure of killing the Sanzo Party cause he'd taken too long? That infuriated the prince even more than losing to them did. He burst into the room that the lady was in. She had returned to patting the Night Stalker.

"Maura Tazanna! I hope you have a good explanation for... ugh! What IS that thing?" exclaimed the Prince as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand to prevent showing fear or sickness to the lady that made him angrier than his step mother did. Maura turned to look at Kougaiji.

"what? This little baby here? Why, this is my beloved pet. It's called a Night Stalker. I created this species myself. I had nearby demons bring in captured humans, women, and had Dr Nii fuse their eggs with a raven's sperm. Then he planted the embryo in the women again, and the pregnancy continued. At the end, the Night Stalkers ate their way out of the women, and their mummy was their first meal!" answered Maura and she cackled wildly.

Kougaiji felt disgusted beyond anything he's ever felt. He felt like running to the toilet and throwing up. He grit his teeth to try and get rid of the ill feeling in his stomach, but it was no use, he ran out of the room and ran past Yaone and Dokugakuji, straight to the rest rooms to throw up.

"What's wrong with Lord Kougaiji?" asked Yaone, Dokugakuji shrugged then ran after Kougaiji. As Dokugakuji entered the rest room he heard a horrible sound, one that made his eyes widen and horror fill his system. She rushed to the toilet that Kougaiji was leaning over, and patted him on the back.

"Kou! Kou, what happened? Are you alright?" asked Dokugakuji and Kougaiji tried to straighten himself up.

"i had a talk with Maura" answered Kougaiji, wanting to get off the subject before he threw up again.

"that crazy lady? What were you thinking Kou?" asked Dokugakuji. Kougaiji grit his teeth, trying to prevent another throwing up, desperately.

"she told me how the Night Stalkers were created. Apparently they're a cross of human and raven, and the mothers became their first meal as they ate them on their way out!" answered Kougaiji as he threw up again, causing Dokugakuji's eyes to widen in horror, and he backed away from Kougaiji a little, then fell against the wall of the rest room, thinking it over.

Yaone stood outside the rest rooms, waiting for Kougaiji and Dokugakuji to return. After about 15 minutes, they walked out, looking very worse for wear. Yaone rushed to Kougaiji, helping him walk to his chambers. Dokugakuji followed behind quietly.

"i also saw Tameka. She looked like she was in a hurry!" stated Kougaiji and Dokugakuji gave a lopsided look.

"Tameka? I'll follow her, see what she's up to" stated Dokugakuji as he ran to the flying dragons and took off towards the Sanzo Party, which is where he knew she'd be going. Yaone took Kougaiji to his chambers, and tucked him into his bed, placing a towel on his head, and watching him sleep.

Meanwhile, the Sanzo Party had taken refuge in an inn. Chrysanthemum and the girls were staying in a room with one giant bed, Goku and Gojyo were in another room with two beds, and same for Sanzo and Hakkai. There was a little lever that would be pulled to pull out a blind that acted as a wall between the two beds, creating two separate rooms. The boys decided to do that for their rooms, and as night came in, Chrysanthemum walked from the bathroom to her room where the girls waited. Everyone else was tucked into bed and sound asleep.

Suddenly a hand came out and grabbed Chrysanthemum's mouth, stopping her from screaming and pulled her into the darkness where nothing else was heard.

The next morning, Gojyo and Goku woke up to their usual fighting, and the girls, Hisako and Ruka entered the room asking if Chrysanthemum was with them.

"Have you seen Mummy? She didn't come along to us last night" asked Hisako and Goku scratched his head.

"If she wasn't with you guys, then where was she?" asked Goku, looking up at Gojyo who had a cheeky grin on his face.

"Maybe she stayed with the monk? Eh? You've seen the way they act around each other! The monk may not know it, but he's got the hots for the pink haired lady!" stated Gojyo and Goku's mouth nearly hit the floor.

"Sanzo's in love with Chrysanthemum?" exclaimed Goku and Ruka and Hisako looked at each other in confusion.

Hakkai walked into the room, asking what all the racket was about and they explained to him the situation. Hakkai, of course, didn't believe a word of what Gojyo said, and thought to himself. What if she'd been kidnapped? What were they going to do?

In the last occupied room, Sanzo gradually woke up and rolled over to look at the time. It was way later than what he usually slept to, so he sat up and rubbed the back of his head to wake himself up. He then heard a light snore next to him, so he looked to his right to see a girl with long pink hair in a pink fluffy night dress that only just covered her. She rolled over and opened her eyes slightly to reveal crystal blue eyes. Sanzo was in so much shock he let out a yelp and fell backwards off the bed and onto the floor. Chrysanthemum sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily, and looked to see Sanzo tied up in his own limbs on the floor.

"Sanzo? What're you doing down there?" asked Chrysanthemum and Sanzo untied himself, sitting up.

"What am I doing down here? What're you doing in here! This is my room! Do you know what the others will say?" exclaimed Sanzo as he stood up, looking very scared and surprised. Chrysanthemum slid off the bed and stood, walking round to him. Sanzo raised a brow at what she was wearing, it was even more revealing now that she was standing. She walked to him, then looked up at him straight in the eye.

"I had no idea you were so shy Sanzo! That's so sweet!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together and smiling sweetly at him. Sanzo's eyes widened and he backed away a little. She was acting very weird, and her smile was creeping him out.

Suddenly there was knocking coming from the door, and before Sanzo could go to open the door, Chrysanthemum was there and opened the door to Hakkai, who's eyes widened considerably to see who had opened the door, and a shock stricken Sanzo at the other end of the room, looking like he'd seen someone get run over.

"Hakkai! What can i do for you?" asked Chrysanthemum and Hakkai cleared his throat.

"Sanzo? Should i ask what's going on? Or should i forget what i've seen?" asked Hakkai. Sanzo quickly rushed past Chrysanthemum and grabbed Hakkai's arm, pulling him away and shutting the door in Chrysanthemum's face.

"That's not Chrysanthemum! I know it's not! Chrysanthemum would never do that, she'd never sneak into my room and sleep beside me to scare me in the morning! I must've been asleep when she entered, and she's been there all night! I woke up to see her there and i fell out of the bed because of how much shock i was in!" hissed Sanzo and Hakkai nodded, agreeing with him.

"That is odd, that's not in her nature. If she's a fake, then where's the real one?" asked Hakkai and Sanzo shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head.

"i have no idea. She could be anywhere" answered Sanzo. Hakkai frowned.

"Sanzo, i'll listen in on your conversation with Chrysanthemum, try and talk it out of her, where she is, and then i'll get the others to help me search there and find her" stated Hakkai and Sanzo nodded, taking his gun from the table and sneaking it in the pocket of his shorts. He entered the room again to see no one there.

"Chrysanthemum! Where are you?" asked Sanzo and he was tackled down by someone from behind. He turned to see Chrysanthemum on him, holding her hands around his neck. Her innocent look was gone, and she had an evil grin on her face, making her pupils look very small. Sanzo grit his teeth, trying to keep his breath in as he tried to grasp her hands off his neck, but they just tightened instead.

"Where's the real one? Let me go you imposter!"hissed Sanzo. The fake Chrysanthemum cackled wildly and glared down at him.

"By the time you get to her, she'll be long gone! Check by the bay, you know, the one where all the boats come in? Check there and you might find her body!" answered the fake as she cackled madly like a witch. Sanzo grit his teeth, then reached for his banishing gun, pulling it out and shooting at her head.

However she disappeared and reappeared behind him. He stood, then shot again, and again, she disappeared and reappeared somewhere else.

"I'm sure the Night Stalker's eaten her entire inside by now! Let us all wish the little lamb a happy fortune in the world known as hell!" she exclaimed as she laughed evilly, making Sanzo grit his teeth, aiming to shoot again. She disappeared again before he shot this time, and appeared behind him, striking him from behind. Sanzo felt a shot of pain through his back, then everything went black as he fell to the ground, blood slowly oozing onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Hakkai had heard everything and rushed to get Hakeryuu and go to the bay. Once he'd found Hakeryuu, he decided the others needed to stay there, and then ran outside as Hakeryuu turned a brilliant white and the iron jeep appeared. He jumped into the drivers seat, turned the ignition, then hit the accelerator, speeding off to the bay. He had to get there in time, without Chrysanthemum, who would act as the mother for those girls? He didn't want to see Hisako cry.

**Hisako! Go to Sanzo's room! Quickly!**

_Brother? I haven't heard from you for a while. What'd you say? Sanzo's room?_

**Yeah, you gotta get there quickly! Something's happened, and he needs help!**

_Okay! I'll head there now!_

**Good, but be careful, there's a look-a-like on the prowl of Chrysanthemum! She will attack you!**

_Of Mummy? There's another of her?_

**No, not another of her, a clone!**

_Right, i'm heading there now!_

Hisako quickly stood from the diner's and rushed to the exit, as Ruka, Gojyo and Goku ran after her, wondering what had startled her. Hisako ran to Sanzo's room, burst the door open, and gasped.

Sanzo was laying on the ground, covered in his own blood, and the fake Chrysanthemum was there, soaked in his blood. She turned to look at the gang, then lifted her hand, licking some of the blood that was on her hands.

"I don't believe it... Chrysanthemum was... one of Gyumaoh's assassins?" whispered Gojyo. Goku growled, bringing out his weapon.

"That's not mummy, it's a clone. Probably created by one of Gyumaoh's assassins!" answered Hisako and everyone looked at her.

The clone grinned, then stood saying, "well, aren't you a perceptive one. My name's Tameka, I'm a shikigami of Chrysanthemum, created by my master, Maura. She works for Gyumaoh. You'd better hurry if you want to save him, until then, adios!" then she gradually faded away.

Dokugakuji had watched everything from out the window, and he was in so much shock that if someone had tapped him on the shoulder he would have jumped up onto the roof like a spooked cat. His pupils had nearly disappeared because his eyes were that wide. He rushed off to his flying dragon, then took off to the bay, hoping to catch Hakkai and an alive Chrysanthemum.

When he got there, he saw the jeep parked on the rafters of the bay, and Hakkai looking underneath the rafters, getting hit constantly by giant waves that tried to drown him. Dokugakuji watched in awe at the loyalty shown cause Hakkai had no great feelings for Chrysanthemum, but he knew how close Chrysanthemum was to Hisako, so he was saving her for her.

Suddenly a cawing sound was heard. Both Hakkai and Dokugakuji turned to look at the source, and saw another of those giant bird creatures. This time Chrysanthemum was in front of it, hovering in the air, and the bird looked like it was eating her insides. Dokugakuji's mouth nearly hit the floor in horror, and Hakkai quickly got back on the rafters, getting one of his chi beams ready.

"Stop eating her soul!" he cried out and shot the chi beam, hitting the monster as it screeched horribly, then burst into a million feathers. Chrysanthemum gradually floated down to the ground. Hakkai fell to his knees in exhaustion. Dokugakuji ran to Chrysanthemum, catching her before she hit the ground, then turned and walked back to Hakkai.

"Sorry about the trouble that Night Stalker gave you. It wasn't sent by us, please understand that, but it was sent by someone else in the same division. It was sent by Tameka and Maura. Tameka's a shikigami of Chrysanthemum here, and Maura's her creator, and the creator of the Night Stalkers. Though who knows what other concoctions that bitch has created!" stated Dokugakuji as he lowered Chrysanthemum to the ground in front of Hakkai. As Hakkai caught his breath back, he saw Chrysanthemum was pale, and her skin was going a shade of blue.

"We're still going to lose her!" yelled Hakkai as Dokugakuji grit his teeth in fury.

"Quick! Is there anything you can do?" asked Dokugakuji and Hakkai quickly thought to himself. He then placed his hands in front of her, and focused his chi into a healing light that he sent to her. After a few minutes Hakkai fell to a heap on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Is she any better?" he asked and Dokugakuji nodded. Colour had returned to her skin and her breathing had regulated back to normal.

"Dokugakuji, before you clear off back to Kougaiji, can you explain to me what a Night Stalker is so i have more info on it?" asked Hakkai and Dokugakuji sat down, nodding.

"A Night Stalker is a creature that Maura created. Maura is a human woman that Gyokumen Koushou hired to take over the job of getting the Maiten Scripture from you guys. She instructed Dr Nii to get human women, fuse their eggs with sperm of ravens, and then the monsters were placed back in the women. Once they were ready to be born, they ate the mothers from the inside and they became their first meal. That's just how devastating and disgusting they are. Now they're bred naturally with each other, and birth is natural via eggs. The castle dungeons are filled with the eggs, and when they hatch, they eat the prisoners. It's really quite disgusting" answered Dokugakuji.

"Thanks. Can i ask one more favour?" asked Hakkai and Dokugakuji nodded.

"Help me get back to the inn with Chrysanthemum?" asked Hakkai and Dokugakuji smiled at him. He then picked up Chrysanthemum and put her in the jeep, then helped Hakkai get to the jeep. Then he drove the jeep back to the inn as the dragon flew behind them.

Once they got back, Dokugakuji carried Chrysanthemum inside the inn, causing some alarm, and they walked to Sanzo's room to see blood still on the floor, but they'd bandaged Sanzo up and he was awake and recovering well. But they all tensed when they saw Dokugakuji with Chrysanthemum and Hakkai.

"Big brother? What're you doing here?" asked Gojyo and Dokugakuji smirked at him, then laid Chrysanthemum on the bed, making sure she looked alright. Hakkai stumbled into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to recover.

"Thank you Dokugakuji. Without your help, both Chrysanthemum and I probably wouldn't be here" said Hakkai and Dokugakuji chuckled slightly.

"um, isn't he the enemy?" asked Ruka and Gojyo then ruffled her hair.

"Not today, but tomorrow he may be" he answered, grinning down at her as she giggled.

"Hakkai? Is mummy alright?" asked Hisako and Hakkai nodded. A smile formed on her face and breathed a sigh of relief.

Dokugakuji then left the room, taking his leave, and returned to the castle to report to Kougaiji. All the gang could think about was Tameka and what her role in this battle was now. She was a shikigami, so how was she able to disappear and dodge Sanzo's bullets so easily? Unless she was more than a shikigami? And how did Maura know about Chrysanthemum and what she looked like? Those thoughts rushed through Sanzo's head, and he probably would get those answers, but only in time.


	6. mizu no akashi

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 6

Mizu no Akashi

After a couple of days, everyone had recovered from the incident and were making their way to the next town. Everyone was in their usual spots in the jeep, and as it drove along the dirt path Gojyo spotted something up ahead in the distance.

"Hey guys! What's that up there?" asked Gojyo and Hakkai stopped driving with his eyes closed and looked up ahead to what Gojyo was pointing at.

"It looks like snow up ahead! But, it's complete desert out here! And nightfall's not till a few hours, so how can it be snowing up there?" asked Goku and Sanzo looked at the monkey in amazement, cause it was the most logical question he'd ever asked.

"Either way, we'll have to drive through the snow to get to the town" stated Sanzo as he turned to look at the front again. As they hit the snow, they saw an old building that didn't look like it was inhabited.

"Maybe we should change to warmer clothes over there" suggested Chrysanthemum as she pointed to the building and Hakkai nodded in agreement with her, gradually pulling the jeep to a stop in front of it.

Once they all exited, they stood at the entrance of the building. It looked like an old abandoned hut, and it looked like someone hadn't lived there for years. Ruka and Hisako were a little scared to go in, but Chrysanthemum casually opened the door, looking around, and then walked to one of the rooms with her pile of clothes, getting changed into warmer clothes. When she came out, Ruka and Hisako went to one room, while the boys went to other rooms.

Once everyone was changed, they went outside the hut, but saw Hakeryuu wasn't there. Hakkai looked around, very worried.

"Hakeryuu! Where are you?" he called out, catching Chrysanthemum's attention. She began searching for Hakeryuu too, and so did everyone in the end.

"Perhaps we should split up?" suggested Hisako and Chrysanthemum nodded in agreement.

In the end, Hisako and Hakkai went as a team, Ruka, Goku and Gojyo went as a team, and Chrysanthemum and Sanzo went as a team. They walked off in separate ways, only going straight and then after a few hours, return straight back to where they came from.

As they kept walking, Hisako and Hakkai gradually came across foot prints, but these were human footprints or demons'. Hisako bent down to investigate them, and then Hakkai pointed up to where they lead. As they followed the foot prints, they came across an open field of snow. They walked into the open area, noticing it has been recently played in as a snowman was there. As they walked to the snowman, they noticed snow angels on the ground as well. Hisako's face lit up brightly, and she fell in the snow creating an angel herself. Hakkai smiled and watched her, and then an unpleasant memory returned to his mind.

_Hakkai and a lady with long brown hair walked out to the snow. Kanan and Hakkai were smiling, hand in hand, as they worked to create a snowman. They used pebbles for eyes and the mouth, and then Kanan fished out a carrot from her bag of groceries and placed it for the nose. Hakkai then took off his top hat and scarf, putting it on the snowman, then stepped back with Kanan, smiling at it and at each other._

_Then Kanan ran out further into the snow, allowing herself to fall and she then created a snow angel. When she was done, she lay there laughing and smiling. She looked at Hakkai, and then held her hand out to him. He smiled at her, then walked beside her, falling, then created a snow angel next to her, then made it seem like the angels were holding hands. Kanan and Hakkai lay there for what seemed like hours, just laughing and looking up at the snowing sky. _

"_Hakkai, this was so much fun! Let's do this again tomorrow!" stated Kanan and Hakkai smiled, nodding. _

"_I had fun too Kanan, but i think your angel turned out better" he replied and Kanan burst into giggles._

"_You're such a kidder!" she answered and Hakkai burst into chuckles. _

"Hakkai? Are you alright?" asked Hisako, snapping Hakkai out of his day dream. He looked at Hisako, and smiled.

"Of course I'm alright. What made you say that?" he asked her, and then Hisako raised a brow.

"Well, i tried talking to you, and i didn't get a reply, and then when i looked at you, you had this really gloomy face" answered Hisako and Hakkai's eyes widened a little in surprise.

"I'm alright, just..." started Hakkai and Hisako looked up at him innocently. She was now standing right in front of him, and looking straight up in his eyes. Hakkai then caught Hisako by surprise and embraced her in a hug. Hisako's eyes became very wide and nearly popped out of her head, and her face went a shade of crimson red, but she calmed down, and started hugging him back. Then Hisako nearly choked on the air she breathed in as she felt something wet hit her face. She looked up slightly to see tears falling down Hakkai's face.

**Hisako, try singing that song to him**

_What song?_

**That song you sung not long after i died, it was at my semi-funeral. That patience one**

_Sure thing!_

Just have a little patience  
I'm still hurting from a love I lost  
I'm feeling your frustration  
any minute all the pain will stop.

Just hold me close inside your arms tonight  
don't be too hard on my emotions.

'Cause I need time  
my heart is numb, has no feeling  
so while I'm still healing  
Just try and have a little patience.

I really wanna start over again  
I know you wanna be my salvation  
the one that I can always depend.

I'll try to be strong  
Believe me I'm trying to move on  
it's complicated but understand me.

'Cause I need time  
my heart is numb, has no feeling  
so while I'm still healing  
Just try and have a little patience.

'Cause the scars run so deep  
it's been hard but I have to believe  
Just have a little patience

Have a little patience

'Cause I need time  
My heart is numb, has no feeling  
So while I'm still healing  
Just try and have a little patience.

Have a little patience  
my heart is numb, has no feeling  
so while I'm still healing  
Just try and have a little patience

Just as Hisako finished singing the last line, Hakkai fell to his knees crying. Hisako then hugged him back, tears starting to fall from her eyes as well.

"I, i lost the woman i loved, a few years ago. Her name was Kanan, and she was kidnapped by some demons. I went to rescue her, killing the entire demon clan to save her, and in the end, she killed herself because she was pregnant with one of the demon's children. So i went and killed multiple demon clans, and i killed a thousand, so i, i turned into one myself!" exclaimed Hakkai and Hisako nodded, understanding him.

"I lost someone i loved too, my brother. He died when he tried to kill some people that got to me" stated Hisako and Hakkai then hugged her tighter. They then cried in each other's arms.

Sanzo and Chrysanthemum were walking through the snow, almost acting completely oblivious to the fact that the other was there. Then Sanzo started complaining about the snow, making Chrysanthemum chuckle. Sanzo then looked at her curiously, wondering why she never got angry or snapped at him like he always seemed to do with her.

A branch them snapped behind them, making Chrysanthemum gasp and both of them turn to look at the source of the sound. A demon then jumped out of the trees. He had pale purple skin, a black mark over his face, and had black spiky hair. He wore a shirt and shorts with boots. Sanzo looked at him in disbelief at the fact of what he was wearing. Chrysanthemum gulped, feeling the fear rise in her blood.

The demon then lunged at Chrysanthemum, making Sanzo grab her wrist, then pull her behind him as they started running from the demon.

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be a good fighter, you sure do like to stand and act like a sitting duck!" snapped Sanzo while they ran, and Chrysanthemum sighed.

"I know I'm supposed to have some sort of fighting instinct, some sort of spiritual powers, but whenever i face danger, i just freeze, unless Ruka and Hisako are in danger, then my motherly instinct kicks in" answered Chrysanthemum sadly, and Sanzo suddenly felt sorry for snapping at her. She was just a girl, just his age, so young, and already a mother for so many years, and she didn't fight often. She had to act like a skank to raise money for her and girls, and she was just trying to live peacefully.

Suddenly Sanzo slipped, and they ended up hanging off a snow topped cliff. Chrysanthemum's scream filled the air, and Sanzo grit his teeth to keep a hold of her, while also holding onto the cliff. Suddenly Sanzo spotted something not far from them.

"Chrysanthemum, i know this is a long shot, but I'm gonna let go and reach for something, then we'll hopefully be saved!" explained Sanzo and Chrysanthemum's eyes widened considerably. The demon had disappeared, and Sanzo let go of the edge, allowing Chrysanthemum and himself to fall. He then reached for the plank of wood that was sticking up in the snow. He grabbed a hold of it, pulling it out, then placed it under his feet, and pulled Chrysanthemum towards him, pretty much hugging her, as he tried to steer his new snow board.

"We're snowboarding!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as she tried to unbury her face from the fur on Sanzo's hood, to see what was going on.

As they slid down towards the bottom, they saw a white object approaching them.

"What's that?" exclaimed Chrysanthemum and Sanzo's face went to shock.

"A snowman!" he yelled as they crashed into it. Both Sanzo and Chrysanthemum went flying, and lay on the snow. Both didn't stir.

Meanwhile Gojyo, Ruka and Gojyo were walking in the direction they decided to go. Ruka was between Gojyo and Goku, with Goku to her left and Gojyo to her right. Ruka was growing tired from all the walking, and rested her head against Goku's shoulder and held Gojyo's hand. Goku looked at her and smiled, a light blush forming on his face.

Gojyo grinned at Goku, whose blush grew even brighter. Suddenly they saw a lady with bright pink hair. She was wearing really warm clothes and when she turned to look at them, they saw she had blue eyes. A smile formed on her face and she ran to the three of them.

"Gojyo! Goku! Ruka! Thank god i found someone!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as she reached them, smiling warmly at them.

"Mummy? Weren't you with Sanzo?" asked Ruka and Chrysanthemum sighed in defeat.

"I was, but we ended up getting separated. We were walking through the snow when we got attacked by demons" answered Chrysanthemum and she joined the three on their search in their direction.

In Houtou Castle, Kougaiji slowly sat up as Yaone brought him his food.

"How're you feeling Lord Kougaiji? Better today?" she asked him and Kougaiji smiled at her gratefully.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better today Yaone. Thank you for your concern" he replied, making Yaone blush slightly and cover the lower half of her face with the sliver serving dish that she now held. Dokugakuji walked into the room with Lirin following him.

"I had a word with Dr Nii. There's a lot more monsters Maura's had created, some of them are things never even thought of to man!" stated Dokugakuji as he sat on the side of the bed, as Lirin jumped on the bed, sitting herself next to her big brother.

"Big brother? Are you feeling okay now? Sorry i wasn't there for you when you were sick, i was away doing something for my mum" asked Lirin as she grinned up at Kougaiji, who smiled at her.

"It's alright Lirin. And Dokugakuji, please, i know this may be asking a lot, but keep an eye on Maura, if you see more test subjects being brought in, please secretly free them. That bitch must be stopped, no matter what it takes!" answered Kougaiji as he smashed his fist into the table next to his bed. Yaone looked down at the ground, having a bad feeling about the next few days. She knew something bad was going to happen, but what, she had no idea yet.

Maura stood in her room, sitting on her throne in the middle of the room. The Night Stalkers gathered around her throne, and she patted the tiny one that rested on her lap. Maura had heard every word Kougaiji and his group of friends had said through a little speaker in her ear, created by Dr Nii, and cackled wildly.

"We'll be having some fun soon by dears; the fun's only just beginning! Now, onto the main event! Tameka, it's your turn to shine baby!"She exclaimed, cackling madly as the Night Stalkers screeched horribly, filling the entire castle with their sound. This caused alarm to Kougaiji and his gang, as their eyes widened. They rushed out of the room, running to Maura's room, hoping to make it there in time to stop them. But little did they know it was too late...


	7. what have you done!

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 7

What have you done?

As Chrysanthemum, Gojyo, Goku and Ruka walked through the snow they noticed a hut with smoke coming from its chimney. Ruka was on Goku's back, he was giving her a piggy pack ride because she was so tired. Night was starting to fall and it had started snowing again.

Gojyo pointed towards the hut and suggested they go there and ask to stay the night. Chrysanthemum and Goku nodded in agreement. They rushed to the door, opening it to find no one there. Although a hot pot of soup was there, bubbling on a fire. The gang couldn't resist, and so, secretly helped themselves to some of the soup.

It'd been a few more hours and no one still hadn't shown up, so they made themselves comfy in the beds, letting themselves drift off to sleep in front of the fire. However before the pink haired lady went to sleep, she curled onto her side, and grinned evilly. Thanks to that Night Stalker that attacked Chrysanthemum a couple days ago, stealing part of her soul, she was finding it easier to trick these people into believing she was Chrysanthemum due to the fact she acted more like her, cause part of her was in her now!

Hisako and Hakkai had taken refuge in a cave, wrapped up in some blankets that Hisako had brought in her bag. It was freezing and snow had fallen and created a blizzard. They were shivering madly, cuddled up in the blankets trying to keep warm.

"I-it's freezing! H-Hakkai? A-are you still alive?" stuttered Hisako as her teeth clattered together from the cold. Hakkai couldn't manage words; he only nodded and then wrapped Hisako closer to himself, trying to keep the both of them warm.

Suddenly they heard a noise that both of them had been dreading. A low grumbling noise was heard further into the cave, and they both turned slowly to see a bear approaching them. Hisako froze in fear, and Hakkai just tightened his grip on Hisako. The bear was really big, probably 3 times Hisako's size, and a really dark shade of brown. It approached the two of them, who were frozen in fear. It then made a low purring noise, and lay on the ground, curling up around the two of them.

Hisako could feel the warmth of the bear, and looked at Hakkai in surprise, who then realised what was happening as a smaller bear came up and curled up on Hisako's lap.

"I get it now. This is the mother and bear cub that we saved. The bears were chasing us down a couple of months ago because they mistook us for the hunters that hurt this little bear cub. In the end, i ended up healing the bear cub and we were no longer chased. This must be the bears here, and she's trying to repay the favour" answered Hakkai and Hisako nodded, feeling relief wash over her as she closed her eyes, falling asleep. Hakkai soon followed suit.

Sanzo grunted slightly as he slowly pulled his face out of the snow. A blizzard had come and he was freezing. He then spotted his companion a little further off, and stood up, dragging himself over to her. He managed to ply her out of the snow, and checked her for a pulse and breathing. Both were there thankfully, but she was going a shade of blue. Sanzo then turned around hoisting her on his back, and then started carrying her slowly in any random direction, trying to get to some shelter.

After a few minutes he collapsed to the ground from exhaustion due to the snow and dehydration. He pulled Chrysanthemum close to him so she could stay warm, then fished out the water bottle in his back pack, taking a big gulp, then put it back. He wouldn't be able to get them out of the snow and there was nothing but white for miles around.

So Sanzo grabbed one of the blankets, laying it on the snow, putting Chrysanthemum on it, then himself, and then wrapped the other blankets over them, leaving a small hole for air. It was a little warmer, but Sanzo couldn't help but feel uncomfortable being so close to the pink haired lady and a small blush formed on his face without him knowing. So they ended up staying there while they waited for the blizzard to die down as the snow began to pile on them.

As day break came, Gojyo awoke to find Chrysanthemum missing. His eyes widened as he shot out of bed and started looking around the hut, but only Goku and Ruka were with him now. Goku slowly woke up, rubbing his eyes and asking if breakfast was ready. Ruka sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Hey! Have any of you guys seen Chrysanthemum?" exclaimed Gojyo, making Goku and Ruka gasp, looking to where they'd last seen her.

"Mummy's gone!" exclaimed Ruka and Goku looked at her, worried about what she might do.

Just as Goku was about to get up and hug Ruka he noticed something behind him that made his hair stand on end. He twirled around to see a woman, covered in feathers, standing behind him. It was a Night Stalker in its human form. Everyone gasped, standing and gathering together, fear rising in their veins.

Goku and Gojyo brought out their weapons, getting ready to fight in case it attacked. But this Night Stalker just stayed there, looking at them through blue eyes. Last time they'd seen one it had gold eyes. She smiled at them, but it wasn't an evil smile.

"Sorry to have scared you. I came to warn you, there's a flock of Night Stalkers coming our way! I disobeyed orders and came to see you all" she warned, making Gojyo and Goku gasp, lowering their weapons slightly.

"Night Stalkers? Heading this way? Why're you warning us about your own kind?" exclaimed Gojyo as he brought his weapon back up.

"Because, I've had enough of this! I had Maura, my master, she puts us through heinous things, and all the others remain loyal to her. I've had enough of the killing and bloodshed!" she answered and walked closer to them, making herself look even more human. Now she looked like an ordinary woman with long black hair and blue eyes. She had a black tight jumpsuit on with a silver iron skirt and top, long silver gloves and silver high heeled boots. Basically she looked like a female knight.

"wow!" whispered Gojyo as she got closer to them, a warm smile on her face like Chrysanthemum usually wore.

"Hurry! You must get out of here! Please, you must hurry! I'll distract them!" she exclaimed as she ran towards the door, passing the three and ran right towards Chrysanthemum who suddenly stood in front of the door. She stopped in her tracks and looked Chrysanthemum in the eyes.

"Gojyo? Goku? Ruka? Why're you talking with a Night Stalker? You know what they've tried to do to us!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as she looked at the Night Stalker in fear. The woman glared at her, raising a hand, then slapped Chrysanthemum in the face.

"You think you can trick these people again Tameka? The real Chrysanthemum is with Sanzo! I won't stand for your tricks anymore!" exclaimed the Night Stalker as Chrysanthemum looked at her, holding her cheek. A glare of pure hatred on her face.

"You should learn your place Esther! Thanks to you, my cover is ruined! Night Stalkers, attack!" she exclaimed as Esther gasped, running out, tackling Tameka with her. They rolled on the snow for a little, and then Esther got up and ran a little further, as she returned to her true form. She then lifted her wings and flew up into the air. Goku, Gojyo and Ruka ran out of the hut, looking up at Esther as she flew up, straight to the swarm of Night Stalkers that were flying down to attack them.

Ruka then heard a little high pitched noise and looked to see Hakeryuu crawl out of Tameka's bag and fly towards them. He transformed and they all hopped in, with Gojyo at the wheel. They started driving along, as the Night Stalkers flew after them. Esther was tackling them one by one, biting their necks to instantly kill them.

"Who would've thought we'd have a Night Stalker helping us!" exclaimed Ruka as she saw Goku get up and stand to look at the Night Stalkers. Ruka stood and followed suit.

"Let's help her, she can't handle all those by herself!" stated Goku and Ruka nodded in agreement. Gojyo turned to look at them as he drove, watching them get their weapons out ready. Goku then jumped up and out of the jeep and shot towards the Night Stalkers. Ruka jumped up and out as well, holding her knives in her hands. She flew opposite Goku, and threw her daggers at the Night Stalkers; aiming the same place Esther was biting them, killing them instantly. Goku whacked the Night Stalkers on the back of the neck, breaking their necks. Gojyo made sure that when they started falling they fell back in the jeep.

Meanwhile, Hakkai and Hisako woke up to see the bears had woken up as well, and were looking at them curiously. Hisako tensed and froze, making Hakkai tighten his grip, and the bears then sniffed Hisako's face, then gave her a little lick on her face. Hisako giggled slightly at the tickling feeling, and Hakkai eased up a little.

They stood, packed their blankets back up in their bags, and looked out the cave to see the blizzard had ended. They then heard a car drive by and ran outside and straight in front of the speeding jeep that was driving towards them. Gojyo gasped and swerved the jeep, avoiding them and stopping beside them.

"Shit! You know i nearly messed my pants?" he exclaimed and jumped to the back of the jeep as Hakkai took the driver's seat and Hisako went to the back of the jeep to help Gojyo, Goku and Ruka fight. Hakkai hit the accelerator and drove as Gojyo got his weapon out, letting the chain fly up and weapon hit the Night Stalkers under the neck, and Hisako lifted her hand, allowing the chi she'd gathered to rise into a ball, fly up into the air and blow up, killing multiple Night Stalkers. Esther flew along, killing other Night Stalkers, and then flew along, catching Ruka on her back and Goku in her claws of her feet.

"Goku! Ruka!" exclaimed Hisako put Gojyo put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"This one's on our side!" stated Gojyo and Hisako calmed down, allowing herself to fight the other Night Stalkers.

Meanwhile, Sanzo woke up to hear nothing but his own breathing. He sat up, lifting the blankets that were on him off, and pushed away the remaining snow. He saw Chrysanthemum still hadn't regained consciousness, and put a hand to her neck to check for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief to feel a strong beat, and her skin had regained some colour. He began moving some hair away from her face, and froze when blue eyes fluttered open and locked straight on him.

Sanzo sat there in shock for a few seconds, and then relaxed a little when Chrysanthemum smiled at him.

"Sanzo? Did you save me?" she asked him and he nodded slightly. Chrysanthemum pulled herself up and stood, followed by Sanzo. They packed their blankets back in the bags and had something to drink and eat from their back packs.

As they finished eating they saw a jeep zoom out from the trees and drive towards them, stopping in front of them. Sanzo and Chrysanthemum smiled in relief to see Hakkai at the wheel. They climbed in as Hakkai sped off into the trees again. Chrysanthemum brought out her bow and arrows, and aimed at the Night Stalkers as Sanzo brought out his gun, aiming at them as well. Esther flew down to the jeep, dropping Goku off, and then flew upside down so Ruka fell into Goku's waiting arms, a light blush on their faces.

Suddenly a Night Stalker flew up with Tameka on its back. She was cackling wildly and then grinned evilly at Chrysanthemum, who's eyes widen to a horrific size.

"That's... that's me up there!" she stated and felt like fainting from shock. Sanzo noticed this and grabbed his water bottle, which had ice cold water in it, and tipped some on her, snapping her out of it. She coughed and spluttered a little, then glared up at Sanzo. His eyes widened in surprise and he suddenly looked very scared like he was expecting to get hit by one of her arrows.

She just stood and aimed an arrow at the Night Stalker carrying Tameka, and then shot the arrow, but it dodged, flew down and snatched her in its claws, carrying her up into the air as she let out an ear piercing scream. Esther heard and stopped attacking the last remaining Night Stalkers and flew after Tameka.

She got near it then started chasing it through the air, doing loop the loops, and circled it around, at a speed so quick Goku and the others were having trouble keeping up. Hakkai stopped the jeep and watched the fight up ahead as Ruka and Hisako finished off the last few Night Stalkers. The ground was covered in dead bodies and feathers, and now only the two Night Stalkers remained, Esther and Tameka's Night Stalker.

"Chrysanthemum" whispered Sanzo as he watched in horror the fight that was taking place up above them. Esther was diving at Tameka, trying to knock her off the Night Stalker. She let out a horrible screech and Chrysanthemum covered her ears, letting out a scream as the Night Stalker twirled upside down and back to normal. Chrysanthemum was having trouble keeping track of what was happening.

Suddenly a red flame shot out and hit the Night Stalker, making it screech and drop Chrysanthemum. As she fell she let out another scream but was caught by a mysterious male with long red hair and tan skin. She turned her head to get a better look and saw he was a demon.

"Kougaiji! What do you think you're doing!" exclaimed Tameka as she jumped off the dying Night Stalker and landed on the ground, glaring and snarling at Kougaiji. He landed on a branch of a nearby tree, still holding Chrysanthemum, and he smirked at Tameka.

"What's wrong Tameka? Finally met someone who can stand up to you?" he taunted and then landed on the ground, placing Chrysanthemum on her feet. The rest of the gang was sitting there with their mouths nearly hitting the floor and their eyes about to pop out of their heads. Kougaiji smirked at Chrysanthemum and she backed away a little, then ran back to the jeep and climbed in. She was then tackled by Ruka and Hisako who were crying slightly from fear.

"Leave her to me!" commanded Kougaiji as he got his hands ready to summon a fiend. As he recited the chant, Tameka then jumped at him but stopped short by a glowing arrow that shot right in front of her. She turned and glared to see Chrysanthemum had her bow out and had another arrow aimed at her. Kougaiji finished reciting the chant and summoned a giant beast of red flames. The beast flew at Tameka, who then screamed in agony. She then disappeared as a gold light shot up into the sky and vanished.

Kougaiji smirked again as he turned to look at the Sanzo Party. He walked towards them, and Gojyo got his weapon ready.

"Settle down Gojyo! He saved my life! How'd you know where to find us? And who are you?" asked Chrysanthemum as she looked at Kougaiji.

"My name's Kougaiji, Lord Kougaiji. I'm the son of Gyumaoh, but trust me, I'm not like him. The only reason I'm trying to revive him is so my step mother will remove the seal on my real mother. I'm only doing this for her" answered Kougaiji as he continued smirking at Chrysanthemum. It seemed as if he'd forgotten all about the Sanzo Party, but only Chrysanthemum was there. This made her a little uneasy and she leaned back towards Sanzo, holding his arm. Kougaiji noticed and stopped smirking at just her.

"I heard Maura and her Night Stalkers, so i went to go see what happened. I heard about her plan, so i got on the nearest flying dragon, telling Yaone, Lirin and Dokugakuji to stay and keep an eye on her while i came along and took care of Tameka. You shouldn't be bothered by Tameka for a while at least; she's been injured pretty badly. Now that everything's fine, I'll see you guys later" finished Kougaiji as he jumped up, landing on the dragon and flew off into the distance.

"Well, we might as well keep driving to the next town. We shouldn't be bothered for a while" suggested Hakkai as he got the jeep started up again.

"But what about Esther? Will she be joining us?" asked Goku as Esther landed and changed back to normal, to her armoured human form.

"Can she come along with us Sanzo? She helped save us all" asked Chrysanthemum and Sanzo sighed, nodding in defeat. Esther then jumped in between Gojyo and Goku, as they continued on to the next village.

"My Lady, I'm sorry. I failed, I'm willing to accept any punishment you give me" stated Tameka as she held her bloodied arm and bowed in front of Maura. Maura was patting her little Night Stalker again, sitting on her throne.

"There is no punishment Tameka, i only wish for your fast recovery. Though i must ask, how did you get those injuries?" stated Maura and Tameka looked up at her in gratitude.

"Thank you Lady Maura, I got these injuries from Lord Kougaiji when he interfered, i was unable to fight back as he summoned a fiend against me" answered Tameka and Maura growled in fury.

"That Prince has been nothing but trouble to me! One day, one day Kougaiji! I shall kill you with my own hands!" screeched Maura in fury as she balled her hands into fists and punched the arms of her throne. She vowed this on her life.


	8. ima kono shunkan ga subete

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 8

ima kono shunkan ga subete

The snow had melted and the gang found themselves in the desert again. They were just approaching a new town, and everyone was very shocked at just how close Gojyo and Esther had gotten. They were cuddling in the back of the jeep and everyone was just watching in amazement, so Chrysanthemum covered Ruka and Hisako's eyes when they started kissing.

They got to the inn, and they ended up shuffling up the rooms. Chrysanthemum read in horror the bedding arrangements that the inn had set up for them.

"Bedroom 1, Ruka and Goku, two bed suite, Bedroom 2, Hakkai and Hisako, again, two bed suite, Bedroom 3, Gojyo and Esther, two bed suite, and Bedroom 4, yeah, you guessed it, Sanzo and I, two bed suite..." read Chrysanthemum and everyone was looking awkwardly at their roommate except for Gojyo and Esther who were holding hands and smiling at each other.

As they set up for the night Sanzo went to claim which bed was his. Chrysanthemum giggled as he fell back on the bed, like he hadn't sleep in years. She walked to the balcony, opening the door, and watched the town from three stories high. The wind was cool, but the sun made up for it. When Chrysanthemum turned around to check on Sanzo she heard light snoring and saw Sanzo had fallen asleep, not even tucked in. She smiled and chuckled quietly to avoid waking him.

So Chrysanthemum walked back into the room, and pulled the sheets back, hoisting his legs under them, then pulled the sheets over him, tucking him into bed. Chrysanthemum laughed slightly, realising she was mothering him. She then walked out the room and went downstairs to the restaurant. She spotted Hakkai and Goku there, Hisako and Ruka must've gone to bed. Chrysanthemum walked to them and sat with them, eating and drinking the night away.

Meanwhile in Houtou Castle, Maura was pacing her room, her little Night Stalker following behind her, chirping and squawking. Tameka entered the room, her arm bandaged up and in a sling. She bowed before Maura, who didn't even notice her presence.

"My Lady, i regret to inform you that Esther has betrayed us" stated Tameka and Maura stopped pacing to look at her. A look for fury crossed her face and she lifted a shaking hand up into the air. She growled and let her hand come into contact with Tameka's face, slapping her hard on her cheek. Tameka gasped in surprise, and held her cheek looking up at Maura in fear. Maura's face was twisted in hatred, and made her look almost unrecognisable. The Night Stalkers all cried out horribly, making Tameka look at her in terror.

"Maura, isn't that enough? It isn't Tameka's fault that Esther betrayed us, besides, you saw this coming, didn't you?" stated an unfamiliar voice in the shadows. Tameka looked to the source of the voice, and saw a young man about her age, with black rather long hair and green eyes with pale skin emerge.

"Atticus, what have i told you about entering my room? You're not supposed to show yourself to anyone yet!" exclaimed Maura at the man, now known to be Atticus. Atticus just completely ignored her, walking to Tameka, offering a hand out to her. She accepted and Atticus helped her stand.

"Sorry, Maura tends to lose her temper a lot, its better just to ignore her" stated Atticus, looking at Maura who was glaring at him.

"Um, who are you? Or better, what are you?" asked Tameka and Atticus smiled down at her.

"My name's Atticus, i was created by Maura, half human, half wolf. I guess you could call me a werewolf, but i like to think of myself as a person. And you're Tameka, also created by Maura, a shikigami of the lovely Chrysanthemum of the Sanzo Party, built to confuse them and trick them" answered Atticus, making Tameka's mouth nearly hit the floor.

Atticus then held his arm out, which Tameka accepted, and they walked out the room towards another room where they could get something to eat. Maura just stood in her room, dumbstruck and very confused as to what had just happened. She then let out a frustrated scream which echoed throughout the whole castle.

Chrysanthemum suddenly gasped as she felt something down in her spine. She stood from the table she was at, and rushed back to the bedroom to check on Sanzo. Everything seemed fine, so she rushed to the next bedroom checking on Hisako, she seemed alright, so that left two more bedrooms. She checked the next and saw Ruka standing on her bed, her knifes out and a demon lay dead on the floor. Chrysanthemum gasped in shock, and rushed to Ruka, hugging her. Ruka seemed to be in surprise, and then started hugging her back. Chrysanthemum lifted the demon and tossed him out the window, then tucked Ruka back into bed.

She then walked to her room and went to bed, watching the starry sky from the window close to her bed. The fireworks then shot out into the sky to mark the night before the festival which would be on tomorrow night. Soon the entire town was in bed, curled up asleep.

The next night, the town was alive with stalls and activities. Chrysanthemum, Ruka, Esther and Hisako were walking among the crowds in summer kimonos they'd brought with them, and were enjoying the festival. The boys were at a restaurant, eating and drinking. Gojyo was sitting with Hakkai and Goku, smoking while Goku ate to his heart's content. Hakkai sat there sipping bits of sake, while Hakeryuu occasionally stole some from Hakkai's glass. Sanzo sat by the bar, drinking vodka that he ordered. The lady's at the restaurant were going gaga over Goku as he was using his cuteness to win them over, complaining that because he was the youngest, the others wouldn't let him eat till he was satisfied.

"You monkey! If we let you eat till you were satisfied the whole world would be out of food in a week!"exclaimed Gojyo who had crushed up his cigarette in his hand, then started yelping in pain as he realised what he did. Hakkai sat there chuckling to himself, while patting Hakeryuu on the back gently.

A drunken man had sat next to Sanzo and had wrapped his arm around Sanzo's back, whacking it occasionally.

"Hey! Isn't it a pain not having any women around? You are four guys just travelling together" asked the man and three ladies at a table gasped in horror.

"They're gay?" they asked each other making Sanzo freeze in disgust. The man had turned to look at him in shock.

"Are you?" he asked and Sanzo's mouth fell wide open.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed, which made Hakkai laugh even more.

"We have some girls travelling with us; they're just enjoying the festival at the moment. There's one girl for every one of us guys" explained Gojyo who had recovered from burning his own hand.

"It's true, they're just out there, those four by that stall" stated Hakkai as he pointed out the four girls by the stall with large stuffed animals.

"Huh? Three of you are adults and one's a child, yet there are only two adults there and two are children. Which one of you is a paedophile?" asked the lady serving them. Hakkai's face froze and he felt sweat roll down his face a little. He gulped in terror, and started drinking his sake.

"None of them is a paedophile, one of these children is actually 22, believe it or not" stated Chrysanthemum as the girls walked into the restaurant. Everyone's faces, including the Sanzo Party's, were stuck in shock. The girls looked at everybody, confused as to what had shocked them.

"Is that true Hisako?" asked Hakkai as he stood and walked to Hisako. She smiled and nodded at him, having to nearly break her neck off to look him in the eyes. Chrysanthemum walked over to Sanzo, holding her hand out while smiling at him. He looked at her curiously, just making sure she wasn't Tameka, and then held out his own hand. She placed a necklace with a pink sea shell attached to it in his hand, and he looked at it. She raised a brow at her.

"I had the shell, but i needed a chain for it. So i got it done here at the festival. It's for you Sanzo, cause you've helped me out and saved my butt so many times lately. It's a thank you present" explained Chrysanthemum and Sanzo then attempted to put the necklace on, but failed miserably.

"I guess it would be strange for you to know how to put a necklace on, let me help you" offered Chrysanthemum as she took both ends and put the necklace on for her, just sitting nicely on his neck.

"Um, Goku? I got this for you" stated Ruka as she hid something behind her back. Goku stopped eating, looking at her curiously.

"Really? What is it?" asked Goku excitedly. Ruka then pulled out a stuffed toy monkey from behind her back and handed it to Goku with a small blush on her face. Goku's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as he accepted the monkey, and then stood, hugging her.

"Thank you Ruka" he stated and Ruka's face went three shades redder.

Hisako stood in front of Hakkai and pulled a small book out of her pocket of her kimono, handing it to him.

"Here, i got this for you Hakkai. It's Pride and Prejudice. I thought you might like it" answered Hisako and Hakkai smiled at her, sitting on his seat, and took the book from her hands.

"How would you like to read it with me?" asked Hakkai and Hisako's face lit up brightly as a huge smile formed. She nodded and sat next to him as they began reading the book together.

Esther walked over to Gojyo, wrapping her arms around his neck in a flirty way, and placed her head next his neck. He looked at her, showed her his hand of cards he had. She nodded and so Gojyo threw his cards on the table.

"Call" he stated and his opponent gasped and let his cards fall, showing he had been defeated. Gojyo smirked at Esther, who smiled back at him. This was certainly turning out to be a good festival.

Suddenly these giant wolves burst in through the windows, shattering the glass everywhere, and everyone screamed in fright. One of the wolves bit the bartender, ripping his arm off as blood spewed everywhere. Chrysanthemum's face was one of shock and she was frozen in horror, even as some of the blood splattered on her face. Sanzo saw one of the wolves jump at her, but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of the road and towards him.

"Hakkai! Where's Hakeryuu?" exclaimed Gojyo as he shielded Esther from the wolves. Cackles were then heard from the entrance of the restaurant, and everyone who was still alive turned to look and see Tameka by the entrance. A giant black wolf stood beside her, and he slowly morphed into Atticus. He stared coldly at the gang, and Tameka smirked at them evilly.

"Why hello Chrysanthemum, you're certainly looking well. Too bad it won't last for long!" stated Tameka as she burst into cackles of hysterical laughter. Chrysanthemum raised a brow and watched her laugh, then suddenly felt as if a fist was in her throat. Her eyes widened and she sounded like she was choking, so she bent down on all fours and started coughing like crazy. Sanzo gasped and bent down to her level, asking what was wrong.

"C-can't you tell? I-I'm choking!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum between coughs, and then when her throat was finally clear she started inhaling loudly.

"What the hell's going on?" asked Gojyo as he brought out his weapon only to be tackled by another wolf.

"All Enkidu's! Stop attacking at the moment, wait for my command!" stated the mystery man.

"Tameka, just who is that?" asked Hakkai and Atticus smirked at him.

"His name's Atticus and he's working for Maura as well. Also, Esther, enjoy your days, cause they're numbered, and i mean that literally!" warned Tameka as she cackled wildly again. Suddenly a Night Stalker tackled the Enkidu that was on Gojyo, killing it with its sharp teeth and claws. Gojyo scrambled to his feet, running to Hakkai and Hisako. Goku and Ruka had already snuck outside, and Hakeryuu had transformed into a jeep again.

"Esther! Be careful!" exclaimed Gojyo as they all rushed out and into the jeep. Once everyone was in, Hakkai hit the accelerator and sped off and away. Atticus transformed again and Tameka jumped on his back.

"Are we going after them?" asked Atticus, Tameka shook her head as Esther flew out and after the jeep again to join her comrades.

"Let them go, we'll have fun soon, as soon as Esther's expiration date shows up!" stated Tameka as she cackled again wildly into the night.

"My lady, we have introduced the Enkidus to the Sanzo Party, but they don't know about Esther's expiration date yet, i merely mentioned that her days were numbered" stated Tameka as both she and Atticus bowed before Maura who was now in her throne, patting the little Night Stalker again. She grinned wickedly.

"Excellent work Tameka, Atticus. We'll make sure the Sanzo Party suffers before they die, they will experience pain they've never experienced, at the loss of loved ones" stated Maura as she laughed wildly, which could be heard throughout the entire castle.

"So just what was that all about?" asked Goku as he scratched his head. He still had the monkey Ruka had given him, and he had it resting on his lap.

"I don't think any of us know the answer to that one monkey" answered Gojyo as Esther rested her head on his shoulder. Chrysanthemum was breathing regularly again, only coughing about once a few hours, but Hisako and Ruka were still worried.

As the Sanzo Party drove through the night, all Hakkai could think about was what Tameka had attacked them for. Was it to show off those Enkidus? Or was it something else. And Sanzo could only think about what had caused Chrysanthemum to choke at that time, and if it would ever happen again. But those were answers that would only come in time...


	9. lacrymosa

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 9

Lacrymosa

"I heard one of your best creatures betrayed you. So, what're you going to do about it?" asked Kougaiji as he stood in the room, facing Maura who had turned her back to him. She hated him with all her being, and he was the same for her.

"Don't worry yourself over that my Prince, all my creatures have an expiration date" answered Maura as she turned to look at him with an evil grin. Kougaiji looked at her in surprise, then in curiosity.

"What's an expiration date? What have you done now Maura?" exclaimed Kougaiji as his hands clenched into fists and he debated over summoning a giant fiend to destroy her. She cackled wildly, and then smirked at him.

"Are you sure you want to know, you haven't even met my other monsters, and your stomach couldn't even handle the Night Stalkers. Do you really want to know what the expiration date is?" asked Maura as she walked to him, running her fingers gently along his arm as she toyed with him.

"I don't care! Tell me anyway!" snarled Kougaiji as he smacked her hand away. Maura didn't seem to be affected by this, and continued to smirk at him.

"Very well then, don't blame me if you go and throw up again. An expiration date ensures that my monsters can't betray me for long. It's a date and time that's programmed into them when they're still an embryo, and when that time nears, it shows on them somewhere. And then, when that time strikes..." stated Maura and Kougaiji's eyes widened in shock.

"And when that time strikes?" asked Kougaiji and Maura cackled wildly.

"They just drop dead for unknown reasons" finished Maura and Kougaiji gasped in shock. He then growled and clenched his hands in fists again. The door then opened to reveal Dr Nii. He still carried his giant bunny his arms, and he lifted it up, waving one of its paws at Maura and Kougaiji.

"Hello Lady Maura, Lord Kougaiji. How are you today?" Dr Nii said in a little voice to represent the bunny. Kougaiji had to refrain a growl, and stormed out the room, whacking his shoulder into Dr Nii's, and exited the room. Dr Nii then smiled at Maura who smiled wickedly back at him.

"Dr Nii, welcome. Also, i have a question for you. When does Esther's expiration date show up?" asked Maura and Dr Nii checked the list he had in his hands. He smirked at her.

"In twenty-four hours ma'am. Her date should show any minute now" answered Dr Nii and Maura grinned in wicked delight. She then started laughing maniacally. Dr Nii just continued standing there smiling.

Meanwhile as the Sanzo Party continued driving along, Chrysanthemum was asleep in the back of the jeep with the girls, Goku, Gojyo and Esther were in the middle this time. Sanzo had lit another cigarette and was puffing through it quite quickly. Hakkai was continuing to drive with his eyes closed.

Esther then started scratching at the back of her neck, so Goku stood up in the jeep and began checking out the back of her neck.

"Hey, what's this?" asked Goku, making Gojyo get up on his knees as he began checking too. There was a barcode with a date and time underneath it printed on the back of her neck.

"Number 10573638, time: 24 hours. What's that supposed to mean?" asked Gojyo as he looked at Goku in curiosity. Goku shrugged his shoulders because he was clueless.

"Why not ask the patient?" suggested Sanzo and then Goku and Gojyo looked at Esther expectantly. She looked at her hands which were now tucked up in her lap.

"Sounds like an expiration date that you normally pick up on food packages and stuff" muttered a very sleepy Chrysanthemum as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Well, hello sleeping beauty! Good afternoon!" greeted Hakkai, making Chrysanthemum throw her pillow at his head, and he cracked up laughing. Chrysanthemum pouted slightly from his 'so not funny' joke.

"It is an expiration date. It's mine" answered Esther, making Goku and Gojyo gasped, in fact, everyone in the jeep gasped in shock and surprise.

"And what happens when the time runs out?" asked Sanzo as he bit into the soft part of his cigarette in anger.

"I just drop dead. It was programmed in all us monsters that Maura made, we all have an expiration date" answered Esther and Chrysanthemum gasped in horror.

"How cruel! How could someone human do such a thing?" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as she made sure Hisako and Ruka were still sound asleep. She didn't want them to hear such a horrible thing.

"Well, what about you Chrysanthemum? You've been suffering from coughing attacks since that day we ran into Tameka at the festival. You've also gradually begun losing your appetite. I'm more worried about you than myself at the moment" asked Esther making Chrysanthemum think carefully.

Hakkai also began thinking over past events that could've resulted in Chrysanthemum falling ill, but none came to mind.

"It could've been that snow storm we got stuck in. Chrysanthemum and I had to bunker down in nothing but blankets in the freezing snow with no shelter, so that could've been it" suggested Sanzo, but Chrysanthemum shook her head.

"No, if it was due to the snow or cold, my nose would be running too" stated Chrysanthemum and Sanzo nodded, agreeing with her.

"Mummy? What's going on?" asked Ruka as she and Hisako began waking up a little. Chrysanthemum then glared at the gang to end the subject of Esther's expiration date because they girls greatly admired her and thought she was wicked and awesome. If they learned she was going to die soon they would be very depressed and sad, and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Nothing sweetie, we were just talking about that really big blizzard we all got trapped in. You remember, don't you?" answered Chrysanthemum and Ruka nodded, having to think a bit before because she was so tired.

"We ran into Tameka who tricked us into believing she was you. That lady's mean" said Ruka as she started hugging Chrysanthemum slightly, who patted her head gently to calm her down a little. Hisako rubbed her eyes sleepily, and then crawled to Esther, and hugged her from behind a little.

"Hey Hakkai, what happened when you went to go rescue Chrysanthemum the first time we met Tameka, who know, when my brother showed up to help?" asked Gojyo and Hakkai thought to himself for a little.

"There was a Night Stalker, and, it was eating her soul!" answered Hakkai as his eyes widened dramatically. Everyone gasped and tensed a little.

"Maybe the reason Tameka was able to fool us so easily is because the part of the soul that the Night Stalker stole was placed into her, making her act more like you. And that's the reason you're becoming ill, cause there's part of you missing!" exclaimed Goku and everyone looked at him in shock and amazement. Goku blinked dumbly for a few seconds, wondering what he'd said.

"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Sanzo in shock and disbelief.

"The monkey's actually got a brain after all!" stated Gojyo making Goku pout and start picking a fight with him. Chrysanthemum sighed in defeat, along with Sanzo and Hakkai, and then turned back to Hisako and Ruka. Esther was laughing at the fight, finding it ridiculously funny.

Chrysanthemum was tending to the girls at the back of the jeep. Ruka had sat in Chrysanthemum's lap and requested she brush her hair for her, so Hisako just sat in front of Ruka and watched. Chrysanthemum sung quietly to Ruka while she brushed her hair, while Ruka and Hisako played Red Hands.

Suddenly Chrysanthemum started coughing again and everyone stopped and looked at her, very worried. Once she recovered, she looked up at Hakkai and Sanzo in the front, and gave them a shaky thumb up. Hakkai nodded, still worried, and hit the accelerator again, heading for the next town.

Chrysanthemum then started brushing Hisako's hair when they switched places and started playing Red Hands again. Esther had turned around to look at them, and was watching Chrysanthemum with a worried expression.

When they finally arrived at the next town, they went to a restaurant to get something to eat. Goku started scoffing the food down quickly, and Ruka and Hisako ate as well. Gojyo was trying to snag some of Goku's food, while Sanzo, Hakkai, Esther and Chrysanthemum just settled for some drinks.

Everyone was having fun, drunk and dancing, enjoying the day and planning to dance the night away. A drunken man came along, slamming his hands on the table that the gang was at, and began yelling in a friendly way at them to get up and join the party. Chrysanthemum looked at Sanzo awkwardly, wondering what they should do.

Sanzo took a sip of alcohol, and then poor some into another glass, handing it to the man, who took it, took a sip, and then started yelling that his mouth was on fire. Hakkai looked at Sanzo as a drop of sweat rolled down his cheek.

"That was pure vodka wasn't it? Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" asked Hakkai and Sanzo smirked to himself. Chrysanthemum's face was one of shock to see Sanzo doing something like that, but she guessed he did it to protect the group from the drunken people, but she could've also been wrong.

Esther sat next to Chrysanthemum, offering her a cup of what appeared to be whisky. Chrysanthemum inspected the cup, and then looked at Esther who smiled at her.

"Whisky is supposed to help with coughs and colds, it apparently kills them. I just thought if you had some it would help kill your cough, at least for a little while" explained Esther and Chrysanthemum smiled at her, nodding, getting what she was saying.

"Mummy? Could i just have a sip of that? I want to try it, see if i like it or not for when I'm older" asked Ruka and Sanzo immediately said no. Everyone on the table looked at him.

"Alcohol is something for adults, children shouldn't even get a taste of it, only when they're adults can they handle alcohol and appreciate it" stated Sanzo and Chrysanthemum glared at him slightly. She held a cup out to Ruka, not with whisky, but a milky type of alcohol in it.

"It's milk with brandy. It's less alcoholic that the whisky, and a lot nicer too, it's more pleasant for younger people like you and Hisako. When you take a sip, just hand it to Hisako cause it looks like she wants to try it too" stated Chrysanthemum and Sanzo's mouth nearly it the table. Hadn't she been listening to a word he said?

"Did you hear a word i said?" exclaimed Sanzo as he punched his end of the table slightly. Goku had raised his hand calling out that he was next to take a try of the alcohol. Chrysanthemum glared at him, and shot daggers at him that made his hair stand on end.

"Of course i heard you silly, but whether or not i took any notice is an entirely different story you idiot! These guys are adults or nearly adults, it's better to let them get accustomed to adult life gradually rather than have it hit them all at once. Don't you get that?" asked Chrysanthemum and Sanzo growled under his breath slightly.

"Now now, we have more important things to worry about, remember?" stated Hakkai and Gojyo nodded in agreement.

"Like what!" exclaimed Sanzo in fury and Gojyo pointed at Esther, who was looking at the table and staring at her hand.

"Should we tell them now Chrys?" asked Gojyo and Chrysanthemum looked at Gojyo with a funny expression.

"Did you just call me Chrys? Why would you call me that?" she asked him and Gojyo chuckled slightly.

"Well, Chrysanthemum is kinda a tongue twister every now and then, so i thought Chrys could be your nickname, a shortened version" answered Gojyo. Chrysanthemum nodded twice, and Gojyo nodded, accepting her answer.

"Girls, there's a slight problem that's come around. You see, you know how Esther's a Night Stalker? Well, she's programmed with a..." stated Hakkai when suddenly a scream echoed through the restaurant. Everyone gasped, turning to look at the source and saw al whole pack of Enkidus and Night Stalkers at the front of the restaurant. Tameka was sitting on the giant black one, laughing maniacally.

"Why, hello again Sanzo Party! And i must say Esther, you're looking very alive at the moment!" stated Tameka as she cackled wildly. The Enkidu she was on, Atticus, started making a funny noise that sounded like laughter, but it sounded more like pants and ruffs due to him being in his wolf form.

Chrysanthemum and Esther stood quickly, and the rest of the gang quickly followed. Tameka raised her arm, and the gang bent into battle positions, with their weapons out ready, and then Tameka swung her arm down. Screeches and snarls were heard as the two herds of monsters jumped into the restaurant, attacking and killing all sources of life in the building.

Tameka cackled wildly as she heard screams and splatters and sounds of ripping flesh. She heard gun fire and yells, but all that could be heard from the rest of the town was silence, as they'd been killed already, and the restaurant was the last place left with life, but that wouldn't be for much longer if they didn't do something soon to stop them.

Chrysanthemum grabbed her bow and arrows, aiming at an Enkidu that had jumped up, attempting to strike her down. She fired and hit the beast in the chest. It yelped in agony, then continued its pursuit, making Chrysanthemum dodge, then yell out to Hakeryuu.

Hakeryuu was having troubles of his own, and had quickly flown out of the restaurant, narrowly missing a Night Stalker's sharp claws. He transformed quickly and the gang ran out and hopped in, driving off at an incredible speed. Esther had transformed and was flying after them quickly, but was also stopping any monsters from attacking the jeep. Chrysanthemum turned to see how Esther was doing, and gasped when she saw Esther get hit by a Night Stalkers claws, scratching her back.

Chrysanthemum was frozen in shock that she didn't even notice the screeching noise heard beside her, but quickly snapped out of it when she heard Hisako's voice.

"Look out!" she cried and jumped in front of Chrysanthemum, getting snatched up in the Night Stalker's claws instead of her. Chrysanthemum gasped in horror, and cried out to her, trying to reach her, but missed by an inch.


	10. das omen

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 10

Das Omen

"Hisako!" cried out Hakkai as he stopped the jeep, reversing and driving after the Night Stalker with Hisako. Sanzo had brought out his gun, and was shooting bullets at the Night Stalker but Gojyo hit him one, knocking the gun out of his hands.

"Are you nuts? You'll hit Hisako!" exclaimed Gojyo and Sanzo growled at him as the gun hit the jeep, firing and hit Ruka in the arm. Ruka gasped in pain and fell to her knees in the jeep, holding the wound. Goku jumped to her and started tending to her wound. Sanzo cursed under his breath.

"Watch where you fire those bullets you bloody idiot!" cried out Hisako as the Night Stalker continued to fly off with her, with Esther not far behind.

"Dammit, of all the people to get captured, why'd it have to be Hisako!" asked Sanzo and Chrysanthemum pouted, bringing out her bow and arrows, pointing them at his head. He froze in horror, wondering what he'd done to upset her.

"And i suppose you'd prefer it if I'd been captured huh?" she asked him and Sanzo's eyes widened in shock realising he'd just dug his own grave.

"Uh, no... Sorry, can we discuss this later? Last time i checked Hisako was in danger, shouldn't we be arguing later?" stated Sanzo, trying desperately to change the subject. Chrysanthemum sighed in defeat, and then aimed her arrow at the Night Stalker. She got her bow steady for a few seconds, then shot just as an Enkidu jumped up into the air attempting to jump on the jeep and strike them. The bow hit the Enkidu and it yelped, falling to the side of the road.

"Can't you aim properly woman?" exclaimed Sanzo and Chrysanthemum glared at him.

"Can you guys please argue another time? Right now we have to focus on saving Hisako!" pleaded Hakkai and he hit the accelerator harder. The speed caught Chrysanthemum off guard and she lost her balance, falling on Ruka and Goku in the back.

"Hey! Get off me!" exclaimed Goku as he struggled underneath the sudden weight on him. Ruka was gritting her teeth in pain from the wound, and crawled out from under her, helping Goku out as they helped Chrysanthemum get her bearings again.

She stood and aimed again; firing and getting a Night Stalker that flew in front of the one carrying Hisako. Chrysanthemum growled in fury and frustration. Ruka and Goku looked at her in fright. This was the first time they'd seen Chrysanthemum so angry. Ruka was slightly scared and was now trying to hide behind Goku, who was looking at her like she was some doll that came to life with a butcher knife.

"Fuck! Why can't i bloody hit it!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as she tried again, hitting another monster that flew in the road again, shielding the one carrying Hisako. Sanzo looked at her in shock, she never swore.

"Are you guys having a tea party down there or what?" cried out Hisako as she continued being carried by the Night Stalker.

"Hang on Hisako! Use your chi on its legs! The legs and eyes the most sensitive to a Night Stalker!" cried out Esther as she flew by it, dodging attacked from all angles. Hisako grinned at Esther, and then pulled out a packet of cigarettes. She pulled one out, pulling out a lighter, and then shoved the burning cigarette into the Night Stalker's leg. It screeched in pain, trying to put up with the pain.

"Hey! Those are my cigarettes! How the hell did you get your hands on those!" exclaimed Sanzo and Gojyo started laughing from his seat.

"Even i can't get to your cigarettes... how'd she manage that?" asked Goku as he looked depressed.

"I was a pickpocket back when i was on my own you know! Now, let me go you bloody Night Stalker!" exclaimed Hisako as she put the next cigarette in its other foot. The Night Stalker cried out in agony, dropping Hisako. A high pitched scream filled the air as Hisako fell towards some dense trees.

"Hisako!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as Esther tried to catch Hisako, but got tackled away by some Enkidus that had jumped through the trees. Cracks and bangs could be heard through the trees as Hakkai pulled the jeep up to a tree with a girl hanging from it. Hisako was mumbling and sounding like a drunken girl.

"Shut up brother..." stated Hisako and Sanzo and Chrysanthemum looked at each other like she'd gone crazy.

"Did you remember to give her her medication today?" asked Sanzo and Chrysanthemum pouted at him, snatching his fan and slamming it on his head. Hakkai and Gojyo started laughing, and Ruka and Goku joined in. Sanzo was rubbing his head and Chrysanthemum was still pouting at him. Hakkai jumped out the jeep and unhooked Hisako from the tree, catching her and putting her back in the jeep as she recovered. As Hakkai jumped back in the driver's seat the gang heard Hisako have a conversation with herself.

"Shut up brother! I didn't ask for your opinion... if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything... i get it! Now shut up please..." Hisako mumbled to herself, and the gang looked at each other weirdly.

"Did she hit her head or something?" asked Gojyo, and Chrysanthemum rubbed the back of her head, wondering the same thing. Esther then fell from the sky and hit the ground by the jeep. Everyone gasped and Gojyo rushed to the side of the jeep.

"Esther! Are you okay?" asked Gojyo and Esther struggled to stand. When she stood, she was in her half human half raven form. It was still rather scary looking, but not as scary as her full form. Enkidus and Night Stalkers flew into the small open area, knocking the jeep over tossing everyone out.

"Ow! What the hell?" exclaimed Gojyo as they sat up and started to try and get their bearings. Esther growled as more feathers grew, turning her back to her true form. She let out a horrible screech, then flew at a Night Stalker that flew dashed towards Ruka. Ruka gasped and turned to Goku who protected her in his arms.

"Well, fancy seeing you guys again?" asked a female voice and everyone looked in the shadows to see Tameka walk in riding Atticus again. Chrysanthemum was getting sick of that girl.

"You're the one that stole part of Chrysanthemum's soul, didn't you? Give it back!" exclaimed Goku as he let go of Ruka and balled his hand into a fist which he held at Tameka in a threatening way. Tameka cackled wildly.

"Why, whatever are you talking about Son Goku?" she asked and Goku growled in fury. Sanzo held his gun at her and Atticus growled deeply at him. Chrysanthemum aimed her arrows at Tameka, but then froze in sudden pain, dropping her weapons and holding her neck coughing. Everyone looked at her with a worried expression.

"What the hell did you do to her?" yelled Hisako as she got a ball of chi ready to throw at Tameka. Tameka looked at her slyly, then a suddenly bolt shot out from the trees behind her. Hisako didn't have time to move, but if she stayed there she'd be hit by whatever it was. Hisako gasped and the gang called out her name as a black blur zoomed through, knocking her out of the way and standing in front.

Gojyo gasped and called out her name as Esther now stood in front of the attack, the shot hitting her and piercing through her flesh. She gasped in pain as her knees gave out. Gojyo growled in fury. He then let his weapon fly about, along with Hisako's chi, to kill all the Night Stalkers in the air.

Goku's weapon was out and he was jumping about knocking Enkidus about, breaking their necks. Sanzo was shooting Enkidus that came near, and Ruka was throwing her blades about despite her being unable to move an arm. Chrysanthemum had lifted Esther, trying to get her to stay with them for as long as possible.

Tameka and Atticus had disappeared, so as they finished off killing the last few Gojyo rushed to Esther and Chrysanthemum, picking her up instead. Esther was barely hanging on for dear life. She opened her eyes weakly and smiled at him.

"You were crazy! Why'd you do that?" exclaimed Gojyo as tears began to form in his eyes. Hisako and Ruka were already crying and hugging Chrysanthemum who was the first to have tears falling down her cheeks.

"I thought, why have two people die, when the person who's already dying could protect the other, so only one ends up dying. I thought it was pretty good logic" answered Esther as a small trickle of blood came out from the side of her mouth. Her breathing was ragged and the shot looked like it'd hit her heart.

"What're you talking about Esther?" asked Gojyo as the tears began falling. Goku was sobbing and Hakkai was trying to comfort him. Sanzo just stood there trying to look the same as usual, to try and show she wasn't close to his heart, but in fact, she was. And it was taking everything the monk had not to cry himself.

"My expiration date, it was coming around really soon anyway. What was it? About 2 hours away?" asked Esther as she squirmed in sudden pain, wheezing a little. Gojyo gasped, holding her head slightly so her neck was straight.

"Try not to talk too much" suggested Gojyo as his hands became stained in blood. The light was starting to come over the hills as the sun began to rise. Esther wheezed a little, trying to turn her head to look at the sun. Chrysanthemum noticed this, and tapped Gojyo's shoulder.

"I think Esther would like to properly see the sun rise one last time" she suggested and Gojyo looked down at Esther who nodded weakly. Gojyo nodded, lifting her into his arms, and then walked out the trees to the hill to see the sun rise properly. Everyone stood a few metres behind, still crying, except Sanzo. Esther could see the sun rise and then looked at Gojyo gratefully. Tears continued streaming down his face as more of Esther's blood ended up on him. She was having lots of trouble breathing now.

Sanzo closed his eyes, trying to not cry, and walked up to Gojyo, holding Gojyo's shoulder and then looking at Esther. He still wore his usual stern expression. He then changed it to a sudden smile.

"Esther, you were okay in my books, that's something to be proud of. And can i ask a favour? Watch those three girls there for whenever we can't?" stated Sanzo and Esther smiled, nodding as a few tears came down her face. That was about the first time Sanzo had willingly talked to her in a friendly way, compared to how he always talked to Chrysanthemum or the girls.

Esther then turned to look at Esther, mouthing the words 'i love you' before her eyes rocked back to show white and her eyes closed. Her chest stopped moving up and down, and her body now was limp. Gojyo and Sanzo gasped slightly, not expecting her to go so soon, and then Gojyo lost it. He fell to his knees, cradling her body and crying loudly. Everyone at the back was still sobbing, and a tear actually escaped down his face.

The morning was filled with crying and loud screams of frustration as the gang mourned over the loss of a friend they'd gained not long ago. She'd become like part of the family, and everyone had grown to love her. It took a while for Gojyo to get over the fact that he was kissing someone that turned into a giant feathery beast, but he loved her.

So the jeep ended up driving down the path to the next village as a small tombstone was left behind, a small mound of sand in front of it. On the tombstone had Esther's name written on it, and the date she died. In front of the grave rested a large bouquet of flowers. No one in the jeep spoke a word, and then Sanzo pulled out his paper fan, waving it just in front of Chrysanthemum's face to get her attention.

"Now, before anything like that happens again, i got one thing to say to you. Now stealing my fan without my permission! And certainly no hitting me with my own fan!" stated Sanzo, making Chrysanthemum and everyone in the jeep laugh a little. Goku was comforting Gojyo at the back of the jeep, offering him every piece of food he had with him, and got him a beer every now and then. Ruka and Hisako had resorted to playing pat-a-cake because they were that bored. Hakkai chuckled slightly as the jeep gradually went back to normal.

Chrysanthemum pouted slightly at the fan that was still in her face, so she brought out her weapons, aiming at his head.

"Speaking of which, you still haven't given me a proper answer to before!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as Sanzo froze, looking pretty scared and felt sweat roll down his cheek again. How did he keep ending up in these situations?

"My lady, Esther has passed on, two hours before her expiration date. She considered it more useful to die doing something rather than die of that" explained Tameka as she and Atticus bowed before Maura. Maura was smiling on the chair.

"Now i don't have to worry about Esther anymore, what should we plan for them next?" she asked her and Tameka grinned at Atticus who grinned back. Lirin had heard the whole thing and rushed to her Big Brother's room to find him when she ran into Dr Nii.

"Ah, I've been looking for you Princess. Your mother would like to talk to you" he stated and Lirin sighed in defeat, following him to Gyokumen Koushou's room. She was sitting in her chair, having her hair brushed by a demon slave. She gasped to see Kougaiji was already there. They looked like they were having a conversation.

"I heard you wanted to talk to me mother?" asked Lirin in the nicest voice she could manage. She knew her mother didn't love her, and neither did she. That's why Lirin worked with her Big Brother so hopefully his mother would be the one she never had.

"Ah, Lirin. I was just talking with Kougaiji here about the Sanzo Party. Apparently the gang went to the size of 8, but then 1 was killed off. Now why couldn't you have done such a thing? They couldn't have been that hard to fight" stated Lady Koushou as she smiled gently, but to Kougaiji and Lirin it was piercing glare.

"You don't know how hard exactly they are to fight! Why don't you try it next time?" offered Kougaiji and Koushou cackled insanely.

"Why would i ever consider doing that? Why break a nail? When i can just have Maura take care of it for me. Honestly Kougaiji, you should be ashamed. She's a human, and yet she's doing better than you ever could!" stated Koushou and Kougaiji's hands clenched into fists. Kougaiji turned around; putting his hand on Lirin's back, leading them away from the room and out of her sight.

When they got to Kougaiji's room where Yaone and Dokugakuji were waiting, Kougaiji punched the wall violently. This caused everyone to gasp in surprise, and the prince growled under his breath. That woman was getting on his nerves! He would get his own back; he swore it on his father's remains!


	11. I'll Make A Man Out Of You!

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 11

I'll Make a Man out of You!

It'd been about a week since Esther's death, Gojyo was doing pretty well, but he hadn't tried to flirt with any pretty lady they'd come across yet. Sanzo and Hakkai were worried about him, despite if they said anything or not. Right now they were fighting a group of demon assassins sent by Gyokumen Koushou. Chrysanthemum sighed as she fired off an arrow to hit the last demon. When Esther was there, fighting these demons was a lot easier. Ruka was tackling two demons by herself. Hisako had blown up any demons that came near her, and the rest of the gang had beaten the crap out of any demon that came too close. Ruka threw her knives and killed one demon, and the last demon that she was battling had ran at her, knocking her off the nearby cliff along with himself. Ruka let out a scream as she fell, catching everyone's attention. Chrysanthemum gasped and ran to the edge, yelling out Ruka's name as she watched her fall. Gojyo had to hold her back tightly to stop her from jumping off too.

"Mum!" cried out Ruka as she fell, making Chrysanthemum gasp slightly at being called Mum instead of Mummy. Chrysanthemum then struggled against Gojyo's grip, trying to break free and go after her.

"Let me go! She needs me!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as she started punching at Gojyo's arms, trying desperately to break free.

"Enough! I've already lost one person close to me! I don't want to lose you either!" stated Gojyo making Chrysanthemum stop and freeze. Gojyo was holding her tightly to stop her, and everyone was watching, really worried.

"I mean it, i don't want to lose you, or Hisako, or even that damn monk! I've already lost her, please don't hurt me again!" pleaded Gojyo making Chrysanthemum relax and then fall limp, sobbing out loud as tears fell down her face. Gojyo was crying too, and Chrysanthemum could hear Hisako crying in the background as Hakkai tried to comfort her. Sanzo was busy patting Goku on the head to comfort him.

"Ruka!" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as the tears flowed down her face. She'd just lost one of her precious children, and she felt like her heart had been shattered into two pieces.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the cliff, Ruka had landed on the demon that tackled her down, which saved her life. She stood and assessed her situation, which wasn't very good. She'd fallen down a huge cliff, survived, and had no way of getting back up. So she continued walking through the forest, and came up to a small town in the woods.

She walked through to find that the town looked fairly new, but there was no one in sight. She got to a big building with council office written on it, opened the door to see almost the entire village in there, cowering in the corner like they were hiding. She raised a brow at them, but then one of the lady's screamed, making her turn quickly to see a demon with a blade behind her, the blade coming down for her head

Her eyes widened and she rushed to her left, dodging the blade barely, and then quickly brought out some knifes in her pocket, throwing them at him. She hit him and he fell to the ground, then pulled the strings and they flew back into her hand. She stashed them back in her pocket, and then looked out the door to see other demons attacking the village.

"Miss! You must hurry and hide too!" pleaded one of the villagers. Ruka looked at him to see he was just a boy, about 12, younger than her. She rushed to him, pulling him up, and then turned to the rest of the village.

"The demons are destroying the entire town, hiding here will just get you killed! Hurry! If you want to live, follow me!" offered Ruka as the entire town looked at each other, then stood up and followed her. She crept to the door again to see the demons were busy. She ran outside, and towards the forest with the rest of the town not far behind.

Luckily the demons were all dumb enough to let them through, and they made it to the middle of the forest where Ruka then helped them set up camp. The women all went out to gather some berries and fruit for them to eat as the children played through the trees. The men had sat around the camp fire they'd set up and were talking to Ruka.

"It's hopeless. We've lost out town and when they realise there was no one there they'll track us down and kill us anyway" stated one of the villagers, know known as Kante, as he hugged his knees. The rest of the village agreed with him, except for 4 men, who stood to declare themselves. They were called Grante, Bilp, Oz and Gil.

"We can't keep giving up like this! We've become a bunch of sissies!" stated Grante as Bilp then pointed at Ruka.

"She's strong, why don't we get her to train us to defeat demons so we can protect ourselves from now on?" asked Bilp as Ruka's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah! She can be our teacher!" exclaimed Gil, but Oz then cleared his throat.

"What about the women and children? Are we just going to let them take part too?" asked Oz and the men then looked at him.

"Um, i never agreed to such a thing, but, if it means that much to you guys, I'll give you a few lessons" offered Ruka as she stood and walked to Grante. She held out her hand and he shook it in a friendly way.

Meanwhile, Chrysanthemum and Hisako were in their next inn, waiting for the boys to return from the bottom of the cliff to find Ruka. Hisako hadn't stopped crying, so Chrysanthemum had brought her into a hug.

"First Esther, now Ruka, what next? Me or you?" stated Hisako as she continued to cry. Chrysanthemum tightened her grip on her, stroking her hair gently. The boys then walked inside, all of them looking gloomy.

"Did you find her?" asked Chrysanthemum and Hakkai looked at the ground.

"We didn't find a body, only the demon that took her down. He was dead beyond recognition, and if she's not there, that makes me think she's still alive" answered Goku as everyone turned to look at him. His eyes were completely hidden and he looked really depressed. A smile crossed Chrysanthemum's face as she sighed in relief at the idea of Ruka being alive. Gojyo sat at the table and Hakkai and Sanzo walked to the girls. Hakkai took Hisako, sitting down and comforting her, while Sanzo sat next to Chrysanthemum, talking to her.

The next morning, Ruka walked in front of the line that the men of the village had formed. They were trying to stand straight and look like they were in the army or something. Ruka had a frown on her face, and she didn't look like that frown would disappear any time soon.

"Okay you bunch of spineless men; you will follow my every order and command. You shall not backtalk and you shall not run from danger unless i say so. Is that understood? Speak!" she commanded and they saluted her. Ruka wasn't sure why, but what she was doing felt slightly familiar, yet she knew she'd never done anything like that in her life.

Let's get down to business to defeat the demons  
did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?  
You're the saddest bunch I ever met  
But you can bet before we're through  
Mister, I'll make a man out of you

Tranquil as a forest but on fire within  
Once you find your centre you are sure to win  
You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot  
And you haven't got a clue  
Somehow I'll make a man out of you

(Grante) I'm never gonna catch my breath  
(Gil) Say good-bye to those who knew me  
(Bilp) Boy, was I a fool in school for cutting gym  
(Oz) This girl's got 'em scared to death  
(Kante) Hope she doesn't see right through me  
(Grante) Now I really wish that I knew how to swim

(Be a man)  
We must be swift as the coursing river  
(Be a man)  
With all the force of a great typhoon  
(Be a man)  
With all the strength of a raging fire  
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Time is racing toward us till the demons arrive  
Heed my every order and you might survive  
You're unsuited for the rage of war  
So pack up, go home, you're through  
How could I make a man out of you?

(Be a man)  
We must be swift as the coursing river  
(Be a man)  
With all the force of a great typhoon  
(Be a man)  
With all the strength of a raging fire  
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

(Be a man)  
We must be swift as the Coursing river  
(Be a man)  
With all the force of a great typhoon  
(Be a man)  
With all the strength of a raging fire  
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

"Man, she trains tough, but i feel a whole heap stronger!" exclaimed Grante as he lifted his arm in triumph. Oz nodded, patting him on the back but whacking him off his feet and onto the ground.

"Are we ready to fight those demons?" asked Gil and Kante and Bilp answered with a big 'yes'.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, cause look, we've got company!" exclaimed Ruka and they all turned to see the demons walking straight towards them. The guys looked at each other, grinning with delight. They were finally going to get to fight real demons and reclaim their village. Ruka pulled out her knives as the rest of the men grabbed their blade and weapons. They ran at the demons, who ran at them as Ruka stayed where she was, getting a lock-on of the demons that weren't fighting anyone.

A demon suddenly appeared in front of Ruka making her gasp and turn, running from them and trying to get a lock on them. A sudden pain ripped through Ruka's chest and she grunted from the pain, trying to hide it. She jumped forward and then twirled, throwing what looked like a million knives hitting every demon nearby her, killing them or injuring them.

All the demons had stopped fighting, same with the villagers, who stood there, staring at her in shock. Ruka smirked, and then winced as the pain returned again. She knew she'd always experienced that pain, but she didn't know why she kept getting it. Maybe her heard just wasn't strong enough for exercise.

"I know you! You're that brat in the Sanzo Party!" exclaimed one of the demons, pointing an accusing finger at Ruka. She smirked again, taking a step forward as they took a step back in fear.

"What're you going to do huh? Sue me?" she asked and the demons growled at her not so brilliant joke. Suddenly a silver weapon wiped through the air, killing half a dozen demons. Everyone turned to see Gojyo, Goku, Hisako, Sanzo, Hakkai and Chrysanthemum standing there, weapons ready and smirking wickedly at them.

"You guys found me? But how?" exclaimed Ruka in happiness as Hisako smiled at her.

"We went to the bottom of the cliff and found a small village. They said they saw you walk past and directed us this way. That's how we found you" answered Hisako and Hakkai laughed a little, sending his chi to some demons as Hisako did the same, making them burst into little particles.

"You always seem to find trouble, don't you?" asked Gojyo and Ruka pouted slightly. Chrysanthemum laughed as she fired three arrows at some demons.

"She can't help it, she is a danger magnet after all!" stated Chrysanthemum and Sanzo cursed under his breath.

"She's just a pain in the ass, like everyone else here is..." muttered Sanzo and Goku giggled, whacking some demons with his weapon.

Soon all the demons were defeated and the town stood in front of the Sanzo Party in gratitude. Grante smiled at Ruka, along with Oz, Bilp, Gil and Kante.

"Thanks to you Ruka, we have a home to go back to. We promise we won't let demons push us around ever again! You showed us how to defend ourselves, and for that, we're forever grateful! Thank you so much!" stated Kante as the entire town bowed at Ruka, who stood awkwardly, hiding behind Gojyo. Gojyo chuckled slightly and patted her on the head.

"Well then, i don't suppose you could give us a place to stay for the night?" asked Hakkai and Oz nodded.

"You can gladly stay here for as long as you like!" stated Bilp and Gil nodded in agreement. Ruka smiled, knowing she'd meet these friends again someday. Kante then walked to Ruka, looking a little worried.

"Kante? What is it?" asked Ruka as she stepped out from behind Gojyo and stood in front of him. Kante lifted his arms to his head and undid the little pun his hair was in. It fell down past his waist in light waves. Ruka gasped in shock as she backed straight into Gojyo.

"You're... You're a girl?" she exclaimed and Kante nodded.

"I was worried that if you found out, you wouldn't let me fight. So i kept it hidden..." she stated and Ruka smiled at her.

"Why would i be sexist against my own gender?" she asked and Kante laughed, realising she'd been silly. So they all started walking to the village, getting ready to start cleaning up and to stay the night before they continued on their never ending journey west.


	12. Find the Way

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 12

Find the Way

(500 years ago)

"Konzen! Hey, come on Konzen! We'll be late to Tenpi's place!" exclaimed Goku who was bouncing around in joy. He was pulling Konzen by the hand and dragging him to Tenpou's library because they'd agreed to help him clean it again, even though it'd been cleaned a few days ago.

"Geez, can't the guy keep that place tidy for more than a day?" complained Konzen as they passed by the Merciful Goddess's room. She and Jiroushin watched the two of them in odd curiosity.

"Well, who would've seen this happening again? The little monkey's leading him by the hand again" stated the Merciful Goddess, and Jiroushin nodded in agreement.

"Ah, you two finally arrived! It's about time, here, you can start with this when you're ready" stated Tenpou as he handed Konzen a huge pile of books to sort through and put away. Konzen didn't look very amused. Goku was lying on his stomach, reading his favourite book about the Meat Bun of Doom. Tenpou was sorting through some scrolls he had, and some maps that were lying on his desk.

"By the way Konzen, i heard heaven's little messenger had returned to heaven from the lower world" stated Tenpou and Konzen looked up at him in curiosity with a lopsided look.

"Heaven's little messenger? You lost me..." muttered Konzen looking very confused. Tenpou chuckled.

"The Jade Emperor's niece, she goes down to the lower world to investigate things going on there, then comes back up and reports. She's kinda like a spy. Besides, you know her pretty well from what i know" stated Tenpou and Konzen froze in horror, realising who he was talking about. Goku was looking up in curiosity.

"Not her... please, anything but her..." pleaded Konzen and Tenpou laughed to himself.

"I was under the impression you knew her well and were good friends with her" said Tenpou and Konzen nodded, holding his forehead in his hand.

"We are, it's just, and I hate her greetings. She's always tackling me and throwing me around. It's only a matter of time before she finds me and tries to kill me in one of her bear hugs..." stated Konzen as he looked around himself in fear. He was dreading her arrival, but knew she had paperwork to get through first.

"Are you looking around for her? She has a mountain of paperwork to do first. She won't be bothering you till at least tomorrow" stated Tenpou as he put more books away. Konzen sighed in relief. The door then burst open to reveal Kenren with his cheeky grin on his face. Goku got up and rushed to him so he could pat him on the head. He giggled slightly as Kenren patted the monkey on his head, and then turned to face Konzen and Tenpou.

"I just happened to see a pink haired beauty pass not long ago. I've never seen someone with pink hair before, very unusual" he stated and Konzen's face froze to horror as he spotted pink hair in the distance.

"Hide me!" he exclaimed to Tenpou, who laughed and pointed to the corner, which is where Konzen ran to and hid. Kenren and Goku looked at him in confusion. The pink hair disappeared and Tenpou smiled at him, giving the 'all-clear'. He sighed in relief and came out of his hiding place, looking round the corner to make sure she wasn't coming back. Everyone decided to stop at that and go back to their rooms to get some rest.

The next day, Konzen had met up with Tenpou, Goku and Kenren again in his office. As Konzen sat at his desk, filling out the paper work on his desk for the Merciful Goddess, his aunt, Tenpou, Kenren and Goku sat in the room.

"well, this is boring..." muttered Kenren as he pulled out his cup and had some of the rice wine he had stashed to his belt.

"If it's boring then leave!" stated Konzen as he glared at Kenren then returned to his paper work. Tenpou his nose absorbed in a book like usual, and Goku was munching on some meat buns Tenpou had given him.

"KONZEN! Whatcha doin!" exclaimed a female voice as a girl with bright pink hair about Konzen's age, maybe younger, in a blue outfit run into the room and run to Konzen. Konzen's eyes widened in surprise and horror as she ran around the desk towards him.

"Oh no..." muttered Konzen as she tackled him into a hug, making him crinkle the paper he had in his hands. She was laughing hysterically like she hadn't seen him in years.

"What have i told you about doing that?" asked Konzen and the girl giggled, letting him go and standing a foot away.

"I can't help it! It's been so long since i came back up here from some work that i was excited to see you!" answered the girl as she looked down at the ground, looking a little sad. Konzen sighed in defeat, and then stood putting a hand on her shoulder so she looked up at him.

"I'm happy to see you too Hikari, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" stated Konzen and Hikari's eyes brightened as she then smiled and nodded quickly.

"Who's this Konzen? Is she your girlfriend?" asked Kenren and Konzen's face became one of fury as he turned and growled at Kenren. Goku had stopped eating and had looked at Konzen with an excited expression.

"Your girlfriend? How come you never told me about her? Hey Konzen?" asked Goku as Konzen swore he saw ears and a tail form on the chimp.

"Konzen? Who are these guys?" asked Hikari as she slightly hid behind Konzen, peering over his shoulder.

"Our apologies, I'm Tenpou, this is General Kenren and this is Goku. You must be Hikari Tsunada, if my research is correct, you and Konzen have been friends for years, apparently almost since Konzen joined heaven. Is that right?" stated Tenpou after he'd put his book down and stood to face Konzen and Hikari.

"This guy's good..." muttered Hikari from behind Konzen. Tenpou chuckled lightly and Kenren stood, ruffling Goku's hair.

"We're friends of Konzen's too, well, me and Tenpou anyway, Goku here belongs to Konzen" stated Kenren and Hikari gave him a lopsided look.

"The Merciful Goddess dumped him on me..." answered Konzen and Hikari nodded in acknowledgement. She then walked to Goku, bending down to smile at him as he smiled back at her. Konzen sighed in defeat as he knew that would be another pain in the ass joining the group.

A figure then opened the door and everyone turned to see Jiroushin. He was smiling at them.

"The Merciful Goddess requests your presence immediately" he stated and then turned and left. Hikari looked at Konzen, who looked furious. They watched him storm out of the room and head towards the room, they decided it would be best to follow him. As Kenren, Tenpou, Konzen, Goku and Hikari walked through the halls to go and see the Merciful Goddess who had summoned them, another female voice called out from behind them.

"BIG BROTHER!" cried out a fairly small girl who looked like a female version of Kenren. She had the same coloured clothes and hair and eyes, even skin. She ran to Kenren who had a big smile on his face. She jumped into his open and waiting arms and they spun around a little, laughing and giggling.

Konzen had put a hand to his forehead, sighing in frustration. Now they'd gained another member to this ever growing group!

"This is your big brother Minagi?" asked Hikari as the two parted and Minagi turned to look at Hikari. A huge smile formed on her face and she walked to Hikari.

"Hi Hikari, been a long time. What have you been doing?" she asked and Hikari chuckled lightly.

"Yes, it has been a long time. I've been down in the lower world doing some work for the Jade Emperor, who happens to be my uncle, and a whole days worth of paperwork. What about you? Where have you been?" she replied and Minagi smirked a little.

"I've been down in the lower world too, training new troops in the army so they're ready to join my big brother's army" answered Minagi and Hikari looked up at Kenren.

"So, you're Hikari's big brother eh?" asked Hikari and Kenren smirked a little.

"Yep, that's me. The loving big brother" answered Kenren and Hikari smirked a little.

"Never would have guessed" she muttered under her breath making Kenren pout and everyone else laugh.

"Mi...nagi?" asked Goku, wondering if he'd pronounced her name right. Minagi turned to face him and froze, eyes widened a little.

"Uh, yes that's right. wh-who are you?" asked Minagi and Goku smiled in happiness at getting her name right.

"I'm Goku. Do you wanna go pick some flowers or something?" asked Goku and Minagi's smile grew brighter. She nodded and the two went out to the flower field seen as they weren't needed for the Merciful Goddess's visit.

"Well, would you look at that, young love!" stated Kenren and Hikari chuckled lightly. Konzen growled while Tenpou laughed to himself.

"Let's hurry up, if we don't get there soon the Merciful Goddess is going to have my head!" growled Konzen and everyone followed him as he stormed to the Merciful Goddess's room. Konzen burst the door open, storming up to the Merciful Goddess's room, slamming the paper work on her desk.

"Well, why'd it take you so long?" asked the Merciful Goddess and Konzen growled in fury.

"Look, we ended up getting side-tracked. People have been joining our group here out of the blue. I'm beginning to think they're popping out of Kenren's ass!" he exclaimed and the Merciful Goddess laughed at him. Kenren pouted, feeling offended. Hikari patted his shoulder in sympathy.

"Don't worry, he may act like this, but he's really quite a softy. I think only I've seen his soft side" she whispered and Konzen turned to glare at her. She squeaked a little and hides behind Kenren.

"But i could be wrong!" she yelled as she hid in fear behind Kenren's shoulder. He laughed a little, and then looked out the window, watching his little sister and Goku picking flowers.

As they exited the room, Hikari had returned to Konzen's side, and they entered the flower field, watching the two young ones hang out.

"So, Goku? Why do you have those shackles on?" asked Minagi and Goku stopped picking up some blue bells and turned to look at her.

"I'm not sure; your brother tried to pick me up and couldn't even lift me off the ground. I think it's because they see me as a heretic. What about that scar on your chest?" asked Goku and Minagi looked at it, debating over whether to tell him or not.

"It's just from an accident. I got hurt down in the lower world, and this scar is the result" she answered and Goku nodded.

"Okay! Minagi! We're leaving!" yelled Kenren and Minagi ran to him and they walked to their place. Konzen walked forward, grabbing Goku's ear, and pulled him along. Tenpou laughed a little, waving goodbye to Hikari who ran back to her room, and then he returned to his library.

Tenpou and a girl with bright blue hair and a light blue dress had stayed in the library Tenpou kept in his room all night. They were rearranging the library and cleaning it up, which took them all night long.

"Misuzu, can you put this book over..." asked Tenpou as he turned to see her sitting on the seat, dozing off a little. He smiled slightly and walked to the seat, sitting next to her and issuing for her to lean against him. She pulled up a little blue blanket and fell asleep against Tenpou as he smiled gently down at her.

"Sleep well Misuzu..."whispered Tenpou as he pushed his glasses up slightly and dozed off himself.


	13. Falling Inside the Black

Saiyuki- Battle Zone

Chapter 12

Find the Way

(500 years ago)

"Konzen! Hey, come on Konzen! We'll be late to Tenpi's place!" exclaimed Goku who was bouncing around in joy. He was pulling Konzen by the hand and dragging him to Tenpou's library because they'd agreed to help him clean it again, even though it'd been cleaned a few days ago.

"Geez, can't the guy keep that place tidy for more than a day?" complained Konzen as they passed by the Merciful Goddess's room. She and Jiroushin watched the two of them in odd curiosity.

"Well, who would've seen this happening again? The little monkey's leading him by the hand again" stated the Merciful Goddess, and Jiroushin nodded in agreement.

"Ah, you two finally arrived! It's about time, here, you can start with this when you're ready" stated Tenpou as he handed Konzen a huge pile of books to sort through and put away. Konzen didn't look very amused. Goku was lying on his stomach, reading his favourite book about the Meat Bun of Doom. Tenpou was sorting through some scrolls he had, and some maps that were lying on his desk.

"By the way Konzen, i heard heaven's little messenger had returned to heaven from the lower world" stated Tenpou and Konzen looked up at him in curiosity with a lopsided look.

"Heaven's little messenger? You lost me..." muttered Konzen looking very confused. Tenpou chuckled.

"The Jade Emperor's niece, she goes down to the lower world to investigate things going on there, then comes back up and reports. She's kinda like a spy. Besides, you know her pretty well from what i know" stated Tenpou and Konzen froze in horror, realising who he was talking about. Goku was looking up in curiosity.

"Not her... please, anything but her..." pleaded Konzen and Tenpou laughed to himself.

"I was under the impression you knew her well and were good friends with her" said Tenpou and Konzen nodded, holding his forehead in his hand.

"We are, it's just, and I hate her greetings. She's always tackling me and throwing me around. It's only a matter of time before she finds me and tries to kill me in one of her bear hugs..." stated Konzen as he looked around himself in fear. He was dreading her arrival, but knew she had paperwork to get through first.

"Are you looking around for her? She has a mountain of paperwork to do first. She won't be bothering you till at least tomorrow" stated Tenpou as he put more books away. Konzen sighed in relief. The door then burst open to reveal Kenren with his cheeky grin on his face. Goku got up and rushed to him so he could pat him on the head. He giggled slightly as Kenren patted the monkey on his head, and then turned to face Konzen and Tenpou.

"I just happened to see a pink haired beauty pass not long ago. I've never seen someone with pink hair before, very unusual" he stated and Konzen's face froze to horror as he spotted pink hair in the distance.

"Hide me!" he exclaimed to Tenpou, who laughed and pointed to the corner, which is where Konzen ran to and hid. Kenren and Goku looked at him in confusion. The pink hair disappeared and Tenpou smiled at him, giving the 'all-clear'. He sighed in relief and came out of his hiding place, looking round the corner to make sure she wasn't coming back. Everyone decided to stop at that and go back to their rooms to get some rest.

The next day, Konzen had met up with Tenpou, Goku and Kenren again in his office. As Konzen sat at his desk, filling out the paper work on his desk for the Merciful Goddess, his aunt, Tenpou, Kenren and Goku sat in the room.

"well, this is boring..." muttered Kenren as he pulled out his cup and had some of the rice wine he had stashed to his belt.

"If it's boring then leave!" stated Konzen as he glared at Kenren then returned to his paper work. Tenpou his nose absorbed in a book like usual, and Goku was munching on some meat buns Tenpou had given him.

"KONZEN! Whatcha doin!" exclaimed a female voice as a girl with bright pink hair about Konzen's age, maybe younger, in a blue outfit run into the room and run to Konzen. Konzen's eyes widened in surprise and horror as she ran around the desk towards him.

"Oh no..." muttered Konzen as she tackled him into a hug, making him crinkle the paper he had in his hands. She was laughing hysterically like she hadn't seen him in years.

"What have i told you about doing that?" asked Konzen and the girl giggled, letting him go and standing a foot away.

"I can't help it! It's been so long since i came back up here from some work that i was excited to see you!" answered the girl as she looked down at the ground, looking a little sad. Konzen sighed in defeat, and then stood putting a hand on her shoulder so she looked up at him.

"I'm happy to see you too Hikari, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" stated Konzen and Hikari's eyes brightened as she then smiled and nodded quickly.

"Who's this Konzen? Is she your girlfriend?" asked Kenren and Konzen's face became one of fury as he turned and growled at Kenren. Goku had stopped eating and had looked at Konzen with an excited expression.

"Your girlfriend? How come you never told me about her? Hey Konzen?" asked Goku as Konzen swore he saw ears and a tail form on the chimp.

"Konzen? Who are these guys?" asked Hikari as she slightly hid behind Konzen, peering over his shoulder.

"Our apologies, I'm Tenpou, this is General Kenren and this is Goku. You must be Hikari Tsunada, if my research is correct, you and Konzen have been friends for years, apparently almost since Konzen joined heaven. Is that right?" stated Tenpou after he'd put his book down and stood to face Konzen and Hikari.

"This guy's good..." muttered Hikari from behind Konzen. Tenpou chuckled lightly and Kenren stood, ruffling Goku's hair.

"We're friends of Konzen's too, well, me and Tenpou anyway, Goku here belongs to Konzen" stated Kenren and Hikari gave him a lopsided look.

"The Merciful Goddess dumped him on me..." answered Konzen and Hikari nodded in acknowledgement. She then walked to Goku, bending down to smile at him as he smiled back at her. Konzen sighed in defeat as he knew that would be another pain in the ass joining the group.

A figure then opened the door and everyone turned to see Jiroushin. He was smiling at them.

"The Merciful Goddess requests your presence immediately" he stated and then turned and left. Hikari looked at Konzen, who looked furious. They watched him storm out of the room and head towards the room, they decided it would be best to follow him. As Kenren, Tenpou, Konzen, Goku and Hikari walked through the halls to go and see the Merciful Goddess who had summoned them, another female voice called out from behind them.

"BIG BROTHER!" cried out a fairly small girl who looked like a female version of Kenren. She had the same coloured clothes and hair and eyes, even skin. She ran to Kenren who had a big smile on his face. She jumped into his open and waiting arms and they spun around a little, laughing and giggling.

Konzen had put a hand to his forehead, sighing in frustration. Now they'd gained another member to this ever growing group!

"This is your big brother Minagi?" asked Hikari as the two parted and Minagi turned to look at Hikari. A huge smile formed on her face and she walked to Hikari.

"Hi Hikari, been a long time. What have you been doing?" she asked and Hikari chuckled lightly.

"Yes, it has been a long time. I've been down in the lower world doing some work for the Jade Emperor, who happens to be my uncle, and a whole days worth of paperwork. What about you? Where have you been?" she replied and Minagi smirked a little.

"I've been down in the lower world too, training new troops in the army so they're ready to join my big brother's army" answered Minagi and Hikari looked up at Kenren.

"So, you're Hikari's big brother eh?" asked Hikari and Kenren smirked a little.

"Yep, that's me. The loving big brother" answered Kenren and Hikari smirked a little.

"Never would have guessed" she muttered under her breath making Kenren pout and everyone else laugh.

"Mi...nagi?" asked Goku, wondering if he'd pronounced her name right. Minagi turned to face him and froze, eyes widened a little.

"Uh, yes that's right. wh-who are you?" asked Minagi and Goku smiled in happiness at getting her name right.

"I'm Goku. Do you wanna go pick some flowers or something?" asked Goku and Minagi's smile grew brighter. She nodded and the two went out to the flower field seen as they weren't needed for the Merciful Goddess's visit.

"Well, would you look at that, young love!" stated Kenren and Hikari chuckled lightly. Konzen growled while Tenpou laughed to himself.

"Let's hurry up, if we don't get there soon the Merciful Goddess is going to have my head!" growled Konzen and everyone followed him as he stormed to the Merciful Goddess's room. Konzen burst the door open, storming up to the Merciful Goddess's room, slamming the paper work on her desk.

"Well, why'd it take you so long?" asked the Merciful Goddess and Konzen growled in fury.

"Look, we ended up getting side-tracked. People have been joining our group here out of the blue. I'm beginning to think they're popping out of Kenren's ass!" he exclaimed and the Merciful Goddess laughed at him. Kenren pouted, feeling offended. Hikari patted his shoulder in sympathy.

"Don't worry, he may act like this, but he's really quite a softy. I think only I've seen his soft side" she whispered and Konzen turned to glare at her. She squeaked a little and hides behind Kenren.

"But i could be wrong!" she yelled as she hid in fear behind Kenren's shoulder. He laughed a little, and then looked out the window, watching his little sister and Goku picking flowers.

As they exited the room, Hikari had returned to Konzen's side, and they entered the flower field, watching the two young ones hang out.

"So, Goku? Why do you have those shackles on?" asked Minagi and Goku stopped picking up some blue bells and turned to look at her.

"I'm not sure; your brother tried to pick me up and couldn't even lift me off the ground. I think it's because they see me as a heretic. What about that scar on your chest?" asked Goku and Minagi looked at it, debating over whether to tell him or not.

"It's just from an accident. I got hurt down in the lower world, and this scar is the result" she answered and Goku nodded.

"Okay! Minagi! We're leaving!" yelled Kenren and Minagi ran to him and they walked to their place. Konzen walked forward, grabbing Goku's ear, and pulled him along. Tenpou laughed a little, waving goodbye to Hikari who ran back to her room, and then he returned to his library.

Tenpou and a girl with bright blue hair and a light blue dress had stayed in the library Tenpou kept in his room all night. They were rearranging the library and cleaning it up, which took them all night long.

"Misuzu, can you put this book over..." asked Tenpou as he turned to see her sitting on the seat, dozing off a little. He smiled slightly and walked to the seat, sitting next to her and issuing for her to lean against him. She pulled up a little blue blanket and fell asleep against Tenpou as he smiled gently down at her.

"Sleep well Misuzu..."whispered Tenpou as he pushed his glasses up slightly and dozed off himself.


End file.
